Gods and Monsters III : Shepherd's Warning
by W.S.Ravensoul
Summary: Continuing the series. This story is a direct prequel to the events of the first game and covers the inner workings of the order. It also shows the town in a light not yet seen before namely a working community. Showing how the fire and a few other things started. Featuring most of the characters from combined games and a few new ones. Enjoy and Please R
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Silent Hill. Konami does. Right with that out of the way a new day, a new story. Enjoy and thanks to all those that have been reading so far.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 1: A day of unanswered prayers

A large moth flickered outside the old windowpane, desperately trying to reach the light on the other side, where the group of figures were seated. Harsh light shone from a solitary bulb onto the meeting. The room was not big, but it was not small either, even though it gave off a slightly claustrophobic atmosphere. White paint was starting to peel off the timber walls of the house and parts near the corners were starting to show their age as well. Graffiti and carved signatures were scattered about the house, even though they were painted over, you could still spot them fairly easily if you were looking for them. Other than these small glimpses of colour the director's office in Wish House was stark and quite empty except for the furniture that was only used for emergency meetings such as this.

The figures were all dressed in large red robes, with the hoods up, similar to a fashion that befitted a monastery. They were sitting in a semi-circle. The leader was behind a large desk at the front of the room. It was he who stood now. The main feature that distinguished him from the others in the group was that he carried a large sacrificial blade at his side. It was an unusual sword that looked like a slightly oversized machete with a strange and ancient inscription on the blade as if the old gods had crafted the weapon themselves. It had been passed down a long line of directors to him and he was proud to show his status by carrying the blade with him at nearly all times. He also wore a large gold chain that glinted in the light. At the end of the chain hung a small symbol. It looked like a pyramid with an eye inside it. The same ancient runes that appeared on the blade encircled the pyramid.

The large hood partially hid his face from the light, which in effect made him look quite menacing. He firmly planted his hands on the desk and began to address the rest of the robed figures. "Brothers. Sisters. I have brought you here to discuss some rather disturbing news that has just recently been brought to my attention." He paused for effect, to convey the gravity of the situation. "It appears that the mother has discovered and rejected her destiny. Sister Dahlia has been trying to resolve the situation by talking, even pleading with her to persuade her to read the scriptures and accept the role that was clearly predestined for her. Sister how is your progress?"

One of the smaller figures looked up, a long strand of grey hair falling from the hood of her robe. Her hands shook a little as she gave her response, she was normally quite strong in character, but the way the leader looked tonight made her think that this was not the right time to show strength as it might get her killed. "I…I…I am sorry master. She will not accept her fate, it seems that she does not hate the world enough to bring it to an end."

The leader interrupted "Have you not told her that from the ashes God shall create a new Paradise. It is only through fire that the purest things can be forged."

Dahlia spoke in a resigned tone "She knows the scriptures as well as you or I. That is not the problem. She knows about the result but she also knows that the process will take away everything she ever loved; making Paradise pointless as there would be nothing for her there. She refuses to cause the ones she loves pain." Although Dahlia sounded old her skin was still young and firm, albeit a little too pale for an ordinary person.

The leader gripped the hilt of the sword, his knuckles starting to go white. "How is it that the mother found the path she must walk so soon? She was not supposed to know until she had undergone the rights of ascension. Dahlia hung her head low, as if to cower. No emotion or even a sign of movement was displayed from the other figures in the group. The leader shifted impatiently, the ancient floorboards creaking as he did so. "Well?"

Dahlia was now really starting to shake at the angry tone in his voice. "You of all people should know how well I school my daughters in the scriptures. Claudia, through an act of enthusiasm in the scriptures read past the point that I instructed her to read, and accidentally revealed her sister's fate to her."

"IDIOT CHILD." It was one of the other members. This one also seemed to have a medallion of the symbol except for the fact that his was made of silver and the runes seemed to be inscribed by blood or flesh. It was obviously an artefact of the town's ancients as a mystical energy pulsed from it and seemed to react with greater strength when it neared the sword. This man was powerful in the group however he was obviously not as powerful as the leader. He got up to slap Dahlia and sent her sprawling across the floor.

Breathless, Dahlia folded herself into a ball, repeating the words "Forgive me mother for my sins are great and numerous and my repentances are small."

The leader grabbed the attacker by the neck with a steely grip. "You will not attack another member in my presence while I live, is that understood?" The man's face now exposed to the light showed fear. He appeared to be in his late twenties. He had a thick mane of dark brown hair. He was tall, but not overly tall for his age. Beads of sweat glistened on his forehead as his skin slowly turned the same shade of red as his robe. His eyes wildly shifted about the room looking for help. It did not come. The leader spoke again "Do we have an understanding Mr Wolf? There are few disciples as there is without you trying to kill any off." The man, nearly losing consciousness, nodded and the leader dropped him to the floor. His medallion making a dull thud as it hit the floorboards.

By this time the group was unsettled to say the least. To silence their babbling the leader drew his blade and held it above his head. "You forget yourselves. Do you know why it is that you are here? We cannot afford to have unrest for the sake of God. Do you forget the power that we will attain as God's most loyal servants?" The group settled, some through fear, some through reason that came from greed and ambition. Dahlia stood up her robe dusty and a little worse for wear, her bruised face now fully exposed. Her haggard appearance made her look like she was in her late fifties. In reality she was a girl only in her early twenties. She opened her mouth as if to speak, remembering that this was not the time for shows of strength she shut her mouth and quickly sat down. The leader saw this and smiled into himself. He knew it wasn't easy for Dahlia to hold her tongue; he admired her sheer willpower to humble herself like that and had no idea what she ever saw in Leonard Wolf. The only sound to be heard in those few long seconds was that of a moth beating its tiny wings against the window.

The Leader focused his gaze on Dahlia "Speak child."

Dahlia bit her lip as she stood up, and winced when she realised that she had drawn blood. She sucked her lip, letting the rich, warm liquid swirl around her tongue before swallowing. "I…Its Alessa. Her powers are growing. I c.c…can't control her anymore. Claudia is the only one who can really speak to her, but lately I've noticed a change in Alessa. She is becoming very detached from us, even Claudia is worried about her."

As Dahlia went to sit down again a cold, clinical voice came from the robed figure nearest the leader. "What are we going to do then? If the mother will not accept her destiny then how will God be born into this world?"

To this question a deep dark voice spoke up. It was the figure sitting next to Dahlia, she recognised it as the prison warden, a Mr DeSalvo "I have an answer if it pleases the council." Most heads in the room nodded in agreement. Dahlia did not want to agree to anything this man came up with before she heard it, she did not trust him one bit. "I have studied Alessa's habits while she spent time with us in the holding cells. She seems to depend on thoughts of her friends and family to get her through bad times. She is especially attached to her pet dog Scamp. His name came up quite a few times. We need hate to bring forth God and show her how urgently this world needs purified. I suggest that we destroy everything this girl has ever loved by purifying it and sending it to Paradise, and if we follow my idea there will be a force of hatred big enough to sustain God indefinitely by the end of it."

* * *

The moth fell to the ground and stopped moving completely. A small hand reached out and scooped it up. "Ahh little one. Don't worry, soon you will be in Paradise, free from the bonds of this world." The little girl slipped quietly back into Wish House. She stealthily made her way up the stairs to her dorm room where all the other children were fast asleep. Claudia lit the candle at her bedside, making sure that she could still hear voices down below. She didn't want to go back to that prison like Bob or poor little Walter, that DeSalvo man was creepy. She hoped that Walter found his mum someday. He could get really upset when he talked about her. Claudia didn't like seeing her friend upset so she told him not to give up hope and read a few encouraging passages from the scriptures. When they came across a passage called "the Descent of the Holy Mother" he seemed to cheer up and rushed off somewhere.

She read the "Act of Purification" into herself. Then taking the moth she put it into the flame of the candle. "Be released little one. Purified by fire to be free and happy in Paradise." She wished that it were so easy to help Alessa. It would be Alessa's birthday soon and she hadn't a clue what to get her. It had to be special as this was probably going to be the year that she would go through the rites of ascension, now that she knew of her destiny. In a way Claudia was jealous but she smothered that emotion with joy for her sister. She moved her long hair behind her shoulders and blew the candle out. Tucking herself under the covers of the bed she could feel the springs poking her through the thin sheet. She grabbed her favourite doll. A tattered rag doll made by her mother, it bore a strange symbol like that of the one the leader wore. It was the symbol of god and it made her feel safe. Alessa had a doll just like hers. Her mother said it would protect her from bad dreams. As Claudia drifted off to sleep in the warm, balmy air, she could have sworn that she heard moth's wings beating against the window. She smiled and drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep.

* * *

Hope you liked it. I'm still writing this one so hopefully I will have finished it by the time the other chapters are uploaded. Please R&R so I know if theres anything that needs improving I can get on to fixing the problem.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	2. Chapter 2

These first chapters are already typed up so they will be going up fairly quickly. This story is a bit of a slow start but it will pick up the pace soon enough i promise. Hope you are enjoying the series so far.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 2: Dog food and Chocolate Milk

Alessa's eyes opened suddenly and promptly shut again at the exposure to the harsh light of the dawn. '

That's strange,' she thought 'its not normally this sunny around the house. This is the sort of weather they would get in town, not this close to the lake. She sat on the end of the bed, stretched and yawned. She dropped smoothly off the bed and gave a small exclamation of surprise when her feet touched the cold, wooden floorboards. She started looking for her Robbie the Rabbit slippers. She looked under her bed and was surprised to find a pair of coal-black eyes staring back at her. She smiled and reached behind the eyes to scratch behind the creature's ears. Soon a small pink tongue appeared and the creature started panting.

The puppy leapt into Alessa's arms and started to lick her face.

"Oh (slurp) hah hah stop it. (slurp) stop it now. I guess it's time for your breakfast too huh and how many times have I told you no sleeping under my bed? You nearly scared me half to death." As she put him down laughing she noticed a scrap of pink material on the floor. She looked under the bed again and saw what the scrap belonged to. It was one of her Robbie the Rabbit slippers, but not as she last saw it. It was chewed up almost beyond recognition and covered in a coating of dog saliva.

"Eww Scamp not again."

Scamp barked in reply as if to say "What?"

Alessa tried desperately to silence the small dog.

"Shhh. Scamp you little rascal, you'll wake Claudia." She wagged her finger with mock sternness. In response to this the puppy lay down tilting it's head up at her while putting its paws over its eyes.

"Aww don't cry now." She abandoned the slipper idea and put on some thick white socks instead. Alessa picked up the pup, cradling him in her arms. His glossy black coat shone in the morning light. A brown stripe of fur ran all the way down the middle of his body. He had brown paws, which looked like he had his own pair of socks. He had been given to Alessa as a birthday present from her mum. She was told that he would grow up to be a strong guardian someday. He was branded with the same symbol that was on the bible. It was a strange pyramid inside a circle. He had been a good companion to Alessa for the last couple of years and had helped get her through some tough times. However the only thing that mattered to Alessa at this precise moment in time was that he was warm and cuddly. She gave him a squeeze and started to sneak out of the room, being careful not to wake any of the others.

"Come on mister shoe-wrecker lets go get you something that you're actually meant to be eating."

As she walked down the stairs Alessa pondered what the new day would bring. Her 'destiny' weighed heavily on her mind. Was she really to give birth to this God, foretold to bring the next apocalypse? She couldn't even contemplate doing such a thing. It wasn't that she liked the world and its peoples. Far from it, her schoolmates all called her a witch. Her mother had taught her well about the wicked ways of the world. Her problem was that she loved her family too much and hated the thought of hurting them. It disturbed her that they were so willing to perish so that God could be born. On top of that Alessa knew that she wouldn't be able to stand the loneliness if her family and friends died. She knew that they would go to heaven, but purification through fire sounded painful. She went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a tin opener and a can of "Woofo". She put the dog food in a dish and gave it to the puppy, along with a bowlful of water. Scamp wiggled his tail wildly with appreciation. Alessa smiled down at the puppy and went to the large white fridge to grab a bottle of chocolate milk. She didn't feel too hungry this morning she was too worried about her 'destiny' for her to be able to eat.

Alessa heard a creak behind her and spun around quickly, nearly spitting out some of her chocolate milk, to face Claudia. Claudia rubbed her eyes and yawned

"Why are you up so early sister? Can't wait for your birthday huh?" she smiled. "I can't. Just wait until you see what I have for you this year. It's going to be really special. Can I have some of that as well? Please."

"The dog food or the milk?" Alessa teased as she passed over the bottle "Sure. Here you go." Claudia stuck out her tongue playfully, thanked her and took the bottle. Alessa leaned back against the sink, which was in front of a window that caught the morning light. It created an effect like a red, fiery aura around her. Claudia finished drinking and gave the bottle back to Alessa.

"I'm quite nervous. I have to read today. I wish I had your confidence. When you read it's like you wrote the book yourself."

Alessa smiled "You'll do fine sis. Just remember, you have me to look out for you." The puppy looked up and wondered what all the excitement was about. Alessa looked down "And Scamp. Mustn't forget him."

Claudia patted Scamp's head and chuckled "No we mustn't." He rolled over and she started to stroke his belly.

"You'll spoil him Claudia. How long were they talking last night?"

Claudia did not look up "Long after I went to bed I imagine. It must be important, I have never seen them this excited about anything before. Dad hit mum again."

Alessa clenched her fists while Claudia continued, "The leader sorted him out though. I don't know why the leader trusts him so much. Its not like his ancestry with the town gives him any more importance than us."

Scamp whimpered "Claudia stop it you're hurting him."

Claudia realising what she was doing stopped immediately, looking distraught. "I…I..I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Alessa put her hand on Claudia's shoulder "It's ok. I know it was an accident. Just take it easy ok? Look Scamp is alright. Here take this dog biscuit, they're his favourites." Claudia fed him the biscuit and sure enough he was wagging his tail within seconds. Alessa shifted her feet, looking at the ground. She was worried about her mother as well. Dahlia had been acting really strangely as of late.

Just then Walter showed up. "Hey guys. Watcha doin?"

Claudia smiled, looking much more relaxed. "Hey Walter. We're just spoiling Scamp here. Where's Vincent?" Walter nodded back in the direction of the dorms "He's reading again. I think he wants to become a minister. Keeps talking of spreading the word to increase the number of disciples. Sometimes I wonder if he is one of the grown ups in disguise." Walter went to stroke Scamp and the dog backed into Alessa's arms as quickly as his paws could carry him.

Walter looked puzzled "What's with that dog anyway?"

Alessa shrugged, she did not like Walter much. She was sad when she heard what had happened to him but there was still something seriously wrong with the kid.

Walter sighed, "All the animals in the forest run away from me too."

Claudia gasped, "You were in the forest?"

Walter nodded "I went to see my mum .b. don't tell anyone. Hey can I have some milk please?" Alessa handed the bottle over to him. Walter thanked her while drinking the cool, tasty liquid.

Claudia crossed her heart, "I promise I won't tell. Did you manage to wake her up this time?"

He handed the bottle back to Alessa. His face was downcast. "No, but I am close to finding a way. Hey, do you want to go play outside? That swing is calling to me."

Claudia laughed and nodded, "Ok. Come on I'll race you. Loser has to push first."

She dashed off, with Walter close behind her shouting "Hey no fair. Are you coming Alessa?"

"I'll be out in a minute. Go ahead and start without me" Alessa called.

Alessa put the milk back in the fridge and started to climb the stairs to get washed and dressed. She thought she would spend some time down at the lake as it was a nice day and the water usually soothed her. As she made her way to the bathroom she did not notice Dahlia going outside to talk to Claudia and Walter.

* * *

Next chapter up soon. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	3. Chapter 3

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 3: A nice day for a picnic

Walter was laughing, enjoying the swing. Claudia seemed to enjoy pushing him. Dahlia watched them for a while. In a way she was jealous, as her own childhood had been totally lost to serving her religion.

"Come here children I must speak with you quickly." Walter seemed a little bit confused and disappointed that his turn on the swing was to be interrupted so soon, nevertheless he complied quickly. Claudia ran to her surrogate mother smiling and laughing, she gave her a big hug. She knew that Dahlia was not her real mum but she was the closest thing that Claudia had ever had to a mother. Dahlia did not seem to dislike being called mother as she called Claudia her daughter and raised her along with Alessa. She said they should have been sisters as they both had special gifts unlike anyone else.

Dahlia attempted to return the hug but knew that the emotion of love was overshadowed by greed and ambition, hence she seemed cold, however Dahlia was still human enough to feel love towards the girls and tried to show it as often as possible as she only wanted the best for them. So however cold Dahlia seemed Claudia knew in her heart that her mother loved her and was resolute in maintaining this belief.

Dahlia tried to sound as nice as possible "Children do you remember the "Act of Purification?"

Claudia nodded enthusiastically; Walter nodded but looked a little more hesitant. Both children started to recite the passage. "God came down from heaven to stay on the Earth for a time. When she got there she found that the Earth was unclean. 'This land is unclean and rife with corruption, destruction and depravity. I cannot live here amongst these foul beings.' So God commanded the skies to cleanse the Earth with fire. Fire reigned for sixty days and sixty nights and lo God saw that it was good. 'I shall build my kingdom on this purified ground. This place is now a sacred place and because of it the dead shall not die, disease shall not exist and souls shall rest and be free. Everything shall exist in peace and harmony. It shall be known as the place of the silenced spirits. So man and woman were now given a purpose. The purpose being to protect this holy place. So it has been, is now and will be forever more Eris"

Both kids finished speaking at the same time.

Dahlia smiled "Very good children. Now I see. You are both true servants of God and as such I have a very special task to ask you both to perform. The elders and myself have learned that the time is upon us when God will be born soon. However she cannot be born here as the ground here has been defiled by the ways of the world again. It is up to us to purify it again, however we cannot do it without your help, as you can get into some places that we cannot. It falls to you to light the gateposts of paradise."

Claudia clapped her hands with excitement. "You mean to say that we are gatekeepers?" She grabbed Walter and started dancing around with him. "Oh isn't that just wonderful Walter? We get to become part of the prophecies." Dahlia smiled at her daughter's reaction. Dahlia heard a door close firmly inside the house followed by steps coming down the stairs.

Dahlia turned around to talk to the children once more. "I will call you again when you are needed. Oh and one more thing. Don't tell the Mother. This is very important understood?" Both children nodded in agreement.

Alessa opened the door, resolute to look happy for her friends and family. "Hi Mum. Hi guys. Since its such a nice day I'm going to go down to the lake and play fetch with Scamp for a while and maybe even feed the ducks later, that is if there are any. Wanna come?" Claudia smiled and said she wanted to come. Walter declined but thanked Alessa for the offer anyway. He sauntered off to play on the swing. The two girls went inside the house to get bread for the ducks. The kitchen wasn't overly clean but lived-in. You could tell it was well used as all around were the signs of failed cooking experiments, spills, crumbs and botched clean ups. The girls grabbed a couple of slices from the silver bread bin, beside the toaster, and started to head out into the sunshine of what was going to be a beautiful day.

Dahlia watched the girls start to leave "Be careful and be sure that you are back in time for lunch. Its pork chops, buttered leeks and roast potatoes." The girls licked their lips at the thought of it and assured Dahlia that they would be back.

Dahlia paused for a moment and had a second thought "Wait. It's such a nice day outside I was wondering if instead of coming back for lunch I could pack you a picnic and then you could come back for dinner." Both girls thought that a picnic sounded like a great idea and quickly went about helping Dahlia prepare a basket. Sandwiches, crisps and chocolate milk all went into the basket. Alessa produced a tin of Woofo to take along for Scamp to eat. Scamp smelled all the delicious goodies going into the basket and spent the whole time getting under peoples feet in order to get at the food.

"Scamp sit" Dahlia commanded. Scamp wondered over to his basket and sat down, keeping as still as a statue, "Good boy," Dahlia said in a rare moment of affection.

Alessa never knew where her Mum had acquired Scamp and didn't really care but it did seem strange that the dog was so loyal to her when she hardly ever saw him. Dahlia packed the last sandwich and handed Alessa the basket. "Right that's it. You two be careful and look out for each other. You hear me? I don't want to hear of any trouble when you get back."

The girls rolled their eyes, "Yes Mum" they drawled.

Dahlia smiled "Go on then have fun and don't forget to be back by dinner."

They walked out the door "Thanks Mum, we won't forget. Love you. Bye. Come on Scamp."

Dahlia went over to Scamp and leaned down to whisper in his right ear. He tilted his head to listen. "Protect them well little one and maybe God will let you live a while longer. Remember our bargain Valtiel. I have honoured my part of the bargain, now you honour yours. Protect the vessel and God may even restore you to your true form. Hah! After the mistakes you have made in the past I will be surprised if it happens, but you never know. God is merciful when she wants to be. Now go." Scamp nodded and bounded off after the girls.

Dahlia watched them go out the gate and down the forest path until they were specks in the distance. She went back indoors and knocked on the door of the director's office. A muffled "Come in" was heard from the other side.

She opened the door and the cult leader turned to face her. "Ahh Sister Dahlia. Good to see you do please come in. We have much to discuss you and I."

Dahlia kept her face as still as stone 'Show no emotion. That way he won't see any of the weaknesses that he loves to pick up on so much.' "Yes director we certainly do." Dahlia replied. She stepped confidently into the room closing the door behind her before she said another word.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that. It starts heating up in the next chapter. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	4. Chapter 4

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 4: Words behind closed doors

Leonard was seeing red. It seemed that the witch had betrayed him and was looking to take his position in the Order. Talking to the leader like that, without even mentioning anything to him first. He stormed upstairs to beat the wall in angry solitude. He opened the old wooden door with a creak to discover Vincent still inside. The boy was pouring over his copy of the scriptures as if it were the key to a puzzle that had tormented him for years. His concentration seemed unbreakable by sound alone. Leonard put a hand on the boy's shoulder and made Vincent jump.

Vincent realised who it was and smiled, pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. His hair was dishevelled and he looked a bit of a mess. It was apparent that he had not slept that night. Leonard smiled proud that such a dedicated student should wish to be taught by him. "Good morning young Vincent" Wolf intoned, "How are your studies progressing?"

Vincent scratched his head, trying to fix his hair a bit. He knew he needed to get ready for another day but he was sure that he was on the verge of unlocking something never before seen by man. If only he could have a few more hours with his thoughts and the scriptures. It wasn't that he didn't respect Father Wolf in fact he thought that the priest was the best teacher that he had ever had. As good a teacher as Father Wolf was; he sure had lousy timing. "Good day Father Wolf. How are you this morning? Well I trust."

Leonard sighed, "I am now that I have seen you. You know you remind me of myself when I was young. Totally absorbed in the scriptures. So much so that it seemed that the world itself was but a dream. These days though the world has become an unspeakable nightmare of corruption and sin. So many in this town have wavered from a good life of faith and righteousness in Order to pursue the pleasures of the flesh. Give me hope young Vincent. Promise me that you would never commit such an act."

Vincent looked shocked at the accusation "Father you know this work is my life; my very reason for being. I serve God and God alone."

Leonard smiled and patted Vincent on the head "Of course I knew that my eager young student. I just needed to hear it to cheer me up."

Vincent turned to him, "Do not worry Father. I will bring the people back. With God on our side and the seal of Metatron, we simply cannot fail."

Leonard started to walk back out onto the landing. "My good student. What would we do without your unfailing optimism and strength of faith? Go down and have some breakfast. You can return to your studies later. A starving disciple is not an attentive one. If you need me I will be in the basement praying, just knock on the door and I will answer as soon as I can. There is much to be prayed for on this day." With that Leonard trudged down the stairs towards the alter in the basement where he locked himself in and started to pray. He poured his heart out to God. How he was distraught that over the years the Order had been defiled by the ways of the Christian, when the immigrants came in. He and Dahlia were the only two purists left that he knew of. He conveyed his worry to God that he suspected that Dahlia had become tainted by the world as of late as she was definitely up to something. He prayed for strength, wisdom and foresight to prepare for his enemies attacks. He continued telling God everything. Vincent decided not to disturb Father Wolf as he knew that the priest would likely be in there all day from the look on Wolf's face.

Vincent went into the kitchen. He took his glasses off to rub his eyes. 'I've been reading too long' he thought as he then used the end of his T-shirt to clean the lenses of his glasses. Popping them back up onto the bridge of his nose he looked around the kitchen to see what there was to eat for breakfast. He looked in the cupboards, hoping to find a pop tart. He sighed when he was unsuccessful in this task. He grabbed some bread from the breadbin and popped it in the toaster. He looked out the window to see Walter playing on the swing and laughing. Vincent was surprised to see the sky so blue. Normally it was overcast around these parts.

From his room Vincent could see the lake. It looked so peaceful when he looked at it earlier this morning. The blood red dawn reflected on the still surface of the lake. It was like the old Gods had come back to reclaim the Earth. Vincent was quite sure something was going to happen soon as well. He remembered that he had seen strange shadows around the calling stone this morning. They looked like a man opening a secret door in the rock. There was a valve in the middle of the door that he had to turn to open. It was similar to the doors found on submarines, which Vincent had read about in a book once. When the door closed the man's shadow transformed into a dog-like shape. Vincent thought that it had just been his insomnia-riddled mind playing tricks on him at the time. Now that he thought about it, he was sure that he had seen it as he still remembered it. The elements of the natural were peaceful, but the supernatural beings knew something was going to happen and were getting prepared for something big.

Vincent nearly jumped when his toast popped up. He decided to ponder on these thoughts later as he had more important things to think about. Maybe later he could ask Father Wolf about it, however it would be quite some time before he would get to talk to Father Wolf again. He buttered his toast and started munching on it. He spat it out as quickly as he could, "Ugggh, blue mould." He picked up the butter knife and scraped the mouldy parts of the bread into the bin, and resumed eating. 'Got to have energy if I want to learn,' he thought.

* * *

The Director slowly swung his chair away from the window to face Dahlia. "I want to let you in on a little secret Sister Dahlia. May I call you Dahlia?"

Dahlia nodded, "There is no respect lost on my side if formality is dropped. I trust that you feel the same way?"

The Director smiled, "Excellent. I am glad that I can finally speak frankly to someone without being frowned upon. Did you know that I discovered this cult by accident?" Dahlia faked surprise. She was from the original line of the Order. When her mother died she made Dahlia promise to revive the Order and save the world from the sin of human kind. After years of endless study Dahlia finally discovered a way. She summoned Valtiel to make a deal with him. She would beget a vessel for God and help establish the Order, if he influenced a few people in power to rebuild and support the Order; and since his mistake in sinking the Little Baroness, he had to protect Dahlia's vessel, in order to atone for sinking the vessel that carried quite a few of the main figureheads of the Order. He originally had thought that the ship was a sacrificial offering to God and was to travel to her through the gateway in the lake (the place where the skies purified the land first.)

"Sister," the Director waved a hand in front of her face. "Dahlia did you hear what I just said?"

She did not realise that she had just drifted off on him. "Sorry Nathan, it was just that I was so shocked to hear that. You mean the Order almost didn't exist as it is today?"

He nodded solemnly, "I discovered the ancient Order while researching the town's history." Dahlia knew that too. Valtiel had taken that information on her instruction and disguised himself as the town's librarian. She witnessed the whole exchange from behind a bookshelf. When Nathan gave his books to be stamped in Valtiel slipped the information into one of them before giving them back with a friendly smile. For a second the smile really did split from ear to ear. Nathan's brain did not register the event though.

Dahlia looked back at Nathan; it seemed he was searching for another response. "That's an amazing coincidence to find the righteous path through an accident. I would consider something like that to be fate."

The Director wore a small smile on his face "Exactly. That's the very reason I established the Order and founded the historical society and this orphanage. So I could preserve, nurture and rebuild the Order to its former glory. Though I have to admit that lately it has been hard for me to keep faith as I have never seen any proof of Gods existence."

Dahlia looked at him as if he had just spoken an alien language. "Look around you. Look at the children, their powers, how can you say such a thing."

The Director clasped his hands and put them on his lap "Quite easily Dahlia. I believe in lost souls, spirits and ghosts. I also believe that this is one of the most haunted areas in the world. Their 'powers' as you call them are no more than the dead speaking to us through them. I learned that much power could be controlled, through the calling stone alone, without having a demon manifest itself in a child. I also learned just who your 'God' is. He's a demon trying to trick you all. His name is Samael and he is posing as a benevolent God to gain more souls and escape this prison. Tell me how you believe that the loving Red God of whom you speak so highly would possibly want your child dead? No this demon is an imposter and you need to wake up to that fact. My God, do you even know what will happen to your soul after you have tortured this poor girl to death? I am asking you to stop this madness now Dahlia before it goes any further and the child gets hurt unnecessarily. Save your soul before it becomes damned to eternal torture administered by the cruellest demons that Hell houses."

Dahlia was seized by a fit of rage. She stood up quickly sending her chair to the floor. "You mean to say that I summoned Valtiel for nothing. All this time you were an unbeliever? Hypocrite! You disgusting wasteful wretch! You do not deserve to live for the blasphemous act you have committed. When I chose you to lead I thought you would believe. I obviously presumed too much, but if you did not believe then why did you continue to lead?"

The Director stood up, his face as red as his robe with anger. "How dare you call me a hypocrite? I have brought this Order back from the ashes and just because I do not fall for the petty tricks of your pathetic 'God' does not mean I can't follow the morals and wisdom that the scriptures of the Order teach." He took the sword out of its sheath and held it to her neck. "Sinner if you believe in 'God' so much maybe it is time that you met Him." With that he raised the sword high above his head. He was not quick enough as Dahlia grabbed his arm on the down-stroke and inverted it, using his own strength to drive the sword deeper into his heart.

Nathan tried to curse her with his last breath but found that the words gurgled and flowed out of his mouth in the form of a dark red stream of blood. He collapsed into his chair with the sword still sticking through his ribs as his lungs filled with blood. It took a further couple of minutes of pain and gurgling noises before he was finally dead, drowned in his own blood. During his death Dahlia kept as still as a mouse, completely fascinated in the process of life ebbing away from a body like that. "I think that it is time that you answered to the God that you didn't have the strength to believe in."

After a while Dahlia couldn't look at the truly agonizing expression on Nathan's face. She pulled his hood over his face, picked up her chair, and sat down to think about how she was going to dispose of the body. She heard the noise of a car pull into the gravel drive. 'That's funny.' She thought, 'Usually no one can ever find this place with directions, let alone intentionally visit us without them.' Dahlia panicked 'What if they find the body now? I can't lead the Order from jail.' She pulled the sword out of his heart and wiped the blade clean on his robe, the crimson hues matching perfectly. She put the sword back in its sheath before dragging a bookcase a little out from the corner of the room and hiding the body behind it. She hoped no one would notice the signs of recent movement in the thin layer of dust that seemed to permanently coat the house.

She took a moment to calm herself. She composed herself in the bathroom next to the office. Just then the door burst open and Dahlia nearly had a heart attack. She was relieved to find that it was only little Walter Sullivan. He was crying. She had to make the house believe that nothing was amiss. She bent down to his level to look him in the eyes as that was meant to reassure children.

"What's wrong little one?"

He rubbed a tear away and sniffed. "I fell off the swing and hurt my knee."

Dahlia kept taking looks out the window to see whom it was driving up to the house. "Aww, there now. Come on into the kitchen and lets get you all patched up. I have a plaster and a bowl of ice cream with your name on it. How does that sound?"

Walter perked up immediately and nodded almost leading her into the kitchen. He liked auntie Dahlia, she told him where his Mommy was, gave him a map to find her and even tried helping him to wake her up. He felt safe around her and would do almost as much for her as he would for his mother. Dahlia was glad that Walter had come to her, as she would be able to see who was coming to the door and be able to get the jump on them. She bandaged the scrape on his knee, pinched his cheek and gave him a small bowl of chocolate ice cream, telling him to go and sit down and in future to be more careful. She wished that it were that easy to fix her current problem.

* * *

Thought I would get that posted up as its a slow start. Hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R  
Cheers  
Wolf


	5. Chapter 5

Good tension builder this one. Enjoy

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 5: A walk in the woods

Dahlia was starting to panic again. The parked car outside the window was no tourist; it was the markings of the local county sheriff's office. The man who got out was moderately tall with a medium build. His jet black hair was slicked back so that it almost looked like a bowling ball had been stuck to the man's skull. He had quite a self-assured air about him. A pair of large, black sunglasses hid his eyes. He sniffed the air immediately showing signs of disgust and suspicion about the place. He looked around for signs of anything suspicious that could give him a decent lead. Before long he saw what he was looking for growing near the black, rusty gate that lead to the woods behind the house. He was amazed that anyone would be so bold as to grow it in plain sight and easy reach of children. He opened the passenger seat of his car, removed his hat and put it on. He made sure he looked intimidating enough by checking himself in the side view mirror. Satisfied with his 'mean' appearance he slowly sauntered up to the front door.

He was about to knock, when the door opened suddenly. He peeked his head in further, going slow as he could not see any sign of the person that opened it, point of fact he was starting to think he was seeing ghosts as the place looked so deserted. The only sound he heard was that of a record player. It sounded like it was a recorded sermon being played, though none of the scripture references he heard were anything to do with the bible, as far as he knew. He edged closer to the door noting that the inside was quite dark. He swung his neck quickly to catch a shadow he had seen out of the corner of his eye.

"Aah..a..a..a… Hello?" he stammered as his shaky hand found itself tightly gripping the handle of his revolver. It wasn't standard issue, but it had gotten him out of a lot of trouble in the past, and he had kept it out of sentiment. His knuckles were white as he crept up the first step to the porch, expecting the worst to happen, and whatever it was it was going to come out of that door.

He turned completely white when he saw a head appear around the door. "Aaaahhhhhhhhh" he screamed a high-pitched squeal as he fell off the porch and onto the ground, landing hard on his tailbone. He got up dusting himself off, wincing when he hit the spot he landed on. He knew that it was going to be tender for a few days; the boys back at the station would never let him live this down. 'Frightened by a harmless old lady. What sort of wuss are you anyway?' he groaned as he started to approach the house again.

The woman gave a concerned look. "Are you hurt officer?"

He shook his head, "Nothing but my pride maam and maybe something else I'd rather not mention in front of a lady." He tipped his hat.

Dahlia tried hard to suppress a full blown laugh and successfully kept it to a slight chuckle. She had forgotten how old she looked. He must think she is quite elderly. "Well then hadn't you better tell me who you are and show me your badge or something?"

The officer smiled bashfully still trying not to look the incompetent fool that he had just shown himself to be. "Maam. My name is officer John McCaw. I'm with the SHPD narcotics division. I'd like to ask the Director of this establishment a few questions. May I come in?" He produced a wallet from his back pocket, wincing as he did so. He opened it to reveal that despite appearances he really was a police officer.

Still smiling Dahlia opened the door a bit wider. "By all means officer. I'll show you to the Director's office. We can talk in there. It's a little more private in there so we don't have to worry the children and the Director won't mind as he left today for a long meeting with the funding board. You know how it is, you can't keep places like this running without having a little oil to grease the hinges, so to speak." John stepped inside the house and followed Dahlia to the exceptionally stark office. The only noticeable items in the room were a table, chair, desk and a bookcase. Apart from that there was nothing in the room. 'This guy must be the biggest cleaning obsessive that I have ever seen,' John thought to himself. Dahlia brought in a small chair for him to sit on. It was slightly lower than hers and less elegant. 'Smart. She's trying to intimidate me by making me seem of less worth. She must be trying to get rid of me. She knows something,' John thought. He realised how paranoid he sounded and tried to stop himself thinking this way, but he _had _seen White Claudia growing in the area so something was definitely going on, and he was going to find out what. 'Who knows there might even be a promotion in this for me,' he thought as he sat down.

"Please make yourself at home officer." Dahlia said with an all too friendly smile.

'Lady. If I wanted to make myself at home I'd have started downing booze in front of a nice big TV screen ages ago,' John thought, glad that he didn't say that aloud. He held back a chuckle with difficulty. Instead he nodded "Thank you maam but I won't be here that long. It's a shame that the Director isn't here. I had a few questions for him to answer. Who is responsible for the place in the event of his absence?"

Dahlia appeared to think for a few moments. She did not want anyone else in the house to get involved with this policeman. Certainly not Father Wolf anyway, as he would probably kill the officer just to praise God. Dahlia used to like Leonard. He seemed dedicated, driven and protective. She was sure he would turn out to be a good father to Alessa; instead he started beating Dahlia and the girls when he discovered that they had powers. He believed them to be witches and not worthy to exist in a house of God. He would be dealt with in time. Dahlia put a finger on her chin before replying. "Well Father Wolf is out on house visits to those who can't make the services, so I guess that the responsibility would fall to me. Why? Is something wrong officer?"

John smiled in an attempt to soothe any anxieties, "No maam. Just wanted to talk to him about a Dr Kaufman. I believe he's the local GP for this house as well as a consultant in Alchemilla General, recently transferred from Brookhaven's psychiatric facility downtown."

Dahlia nodded, and closed the door "Yes. Yes I know him well. He is very good with the children when any of them takes sick. He sometimes does little favours for the house as he grew up here too. It's just little things like giving us medical supplies such as bandages, painkillers, and things like that free of charge. He's a good man though; he pays for those supplies out of his own pocket."

Officer McCaw held his hands up to stop Dahlia, "Please sit down miss?"

"Gillespie," Dahlia replied, "Would you like a drink before we continue this chat?"

John shook his head, "No maam. Thank you kindly."

Dahlia sat down in the Director's chair, her arms folded, making her look quite serious, "Then I shall not have anything myself."

John scratched the back of his head "Maam, it may disturb you to know that it appears Dr Kaufman is supplying more than a couple of band aids to orphanages. He is suspected of widespread narcotics distribution in Silent Hill. We believe the drug to have been manufactured in Brookhaven for the 'special needs' of the psychiatric unit there. From there we think it is shipped to Alchemilla for distribution via a smuggling ring that employs hospital staff, patients and visitors to get the drugs onto the streets. Soon it is feared that an epidemic of addiction will spread throughout the town. The main benefactor of this little situation would be the doctors. We need to know if you have any knowledge or suspicions that any of this was going on."

Dahlia looked at him "Don't you have any evidence? Why do you need my testimony?"

John sighed, "I can't say anything officially, but all the evidence we have given has been deemed circumstantial. It's down to the upstanding citizens of Silent Hill to rise up and stop this before it gets out of hand."

Dahlia put her hand up "Easy there. You can run for mayor later. Can you give me a minute to process this?"

John waited silently. Dahlia looked shocked "My God. I had no idea. Jesus! You just can't tell with some people can you?"

Officer McCaw smiled "No maam. I guess you can't. Something has me wondering though; since you obviously only know the doctor on a professional basis did he talk to anyone else in here or act suspiciously around you?"

Dahlia rested her chin on her fist, "He talked to the Director for hours at a time, but that wasn't anything unusual as they were old college buddies. He seemed interested in the garden out back, near the woods. That's where he spent most of his time, talking in the garden with Nathan. Sorry I mean the Director, although he always called him Red Devil for some reason. I guess it was the Directors nickname in college." John nodded when he heard her mention the garden; he suspected something going on out here. It was the perfect place to hide a stash, secluded, quiet and nobody would ever think of looking here… except him. He could almost taste that promotion. As for the Red Devil bit, that could be possible code for a rank in the drug lords operation. Perhaps the Red Devil cooked up the drugs for dispatch.

He sat on the edge of his seat as if to make a move to go. "Could you show me to this garden?"

Dahlia stood up "Sure follow me officer." They left the house in silence, trying not to cause any excitement in the children that ran past them from time to time, playing chasies. Dahlia kept checking for Leonard, Luckily he was nowhere to be seen. 'Must be teaching that pious brat Vincent.' She didn't like Vincent for the simple reason that he reminded her of Leonard and one Leonard in the world was more than enough for her to cope with.

She opened the gate to reveal a narrow path that lead into the woods. Small white flowers carpeted everywhere except for the well-trod gravel path. As soon as they entered the woods the path became a winding one. Soon they came to a grove in the woods. It seemed that this grove was a boundary between the woods and a vast, dark forest that lay beyond the grove. The trees towering above them had an ancient and primordial look giving the grove a mystical and menacing atmosphere. Dahlia stopped in front of the clearing. Facing John she smiled as she slowly moved her hand across the grove as if she were an assistant on a game show, displaying the show's star prize.

"Welcome to the garden." John took a minute to take in the beauty of the place. A small white picket fence divided the garden's delicate flowers from the towering trees of the forest. White Claudia was the main flower here, among some other beautifully strange and exotic looking specimens. Purples, yellows, blues, greens, whites and reds everywhere seemed to assault his senses with an overload of beautiful colours and smells. The place was so intoxicating that John found it hard to set foot in the garden, in case he broke the spell. 'Jackpot' he thought to himself.

Some of the flowers were arranged into what appeared to be strange symbols. He looked at them closely for a while, but still could not figure out what they meant or where they originated. The spices growing in the centre of the red flower arrangement were starting to make his head hurt.

"Don't get too close to those officer." Dahlia called "They can be quite nasty."

John leaned on her shoulder as she helped him away from that area, "What are those?"

Dahlia smiled "You like them huh? One of our previous Directors discovered them. He was on a trekking holiday in the Holy Lands and stumbled upon the ruins of Gomorrah. He found these growing a couple of miles outside the city around a large salt formation. They are a very rare combination of plants that have learned to adapt to the desert. The spice knocks out any wandering creatures and small pours on the flowers secrete a strong acid that starts to digest it's pray. Once digested the remains sink into the ground and both plants suck up the nutrition. Fortunately the Director that found them had no sense of smell or taste so he did not succumb to the intoxicating scent. He brought them back here and started growing a garden to support them."

John whistled he had never heard of anything like this. Fascinating as they were they had nothing to do with his case. He did worry though; White Claudia was bad enough without something like this getting onto the market. Dahlia sat on a pile of unplanted and unpainted fence posts. John saw that they were larger and uglier than the dainty picket fence already surrounding the garden.

"Thinking of extending the garden?"

Dahlia looked at him "I hardly come out here. Like I said it's mostly the Director and Dr Kaufman who come out here."

John sat on a nearby tree stump, "Then how did you know so much about the red flowers?"

Dahlia sighed as if she were about to recall painful memories "The Director who found those flowers was my father. He was the one who started this garden. When he died I guess I stopped coming out here. This is the first time I have been back here in at least ten years. There have been some changes to it since then. Ok officer?"

John fidgeted with his hat "Gee maam. I didn't mean to bring back bad memories."

Dahlia sighed "It's Ok officer. It's been a while, that's all."

John looked at the White Claudia "I'm sorry maam but I have to ask. Where those flowers here when you last came here?"

Dahlia shook her head. "Not in this quantity. They do grow here, mostly at the lake side but I guess the Director isn't that good a gardener if he doesn't even know how to weed properly. I take it they are something to do with this drug situation."

Officer McCaw nodded "Correct. One mans weed is another mans flower. I think he encouraged the growth. You see, when this flower is mixed with a certain painkiller it becomes an extremely potent drug called White Claudia or simply PTV. It has a hypnotic effect, making the user more open to suggestions and experiencing hallucinations. Now I know that you have no knowledge about this but I may still need your testimony to help me incriminate Kaufman. A separate line of inquiries might have to be opened for the Director as well depending whether or not he was one of Kaufman's pawns. Either way I need to know if you will help me on this."

Dahlia nodded resolutely "I will help as much as I can officer."

John smiled and stood up to shake Dahlia's hand "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me. I'll be back. If you find out anything more or need to talk to me then call this number." He handed her a card "Call me if you see any more suspicious activity. If you can't reach me then ask for Officer Gucci. I'm working with him on this case." He turned to go and started walking back to the path. Dahlia followed closely. In the style of a detective he had seen on T.V. McCaw started talking "Just one more question. What happened to the Directors chai….uurrgghaaaarrgh?"

Blood spilled from officer John McCaw's mouth, trickling down his shirt. Dahlia stood there as still as a mouse, still holding the dry end of the fence post that had just recently impaled the good officer McCaw's skull. The pointy end had pierced through where his nose should have been, making him look like a grim, bloodstained Pinocchio. 'Great' Dahlia thought, 'Now I have two bodies to hide. How am I going to do this without being noticed?'

* * *

Im telling you this now its not going to be through an elaborate puppet show haha. Another chapter done. More to come soon. Hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	6. Chapter 6

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 6: The path of the righteous

Dahlia knew that she needed some way of sneaking the bodies out without raising suspicion. An idea struck her as she sat on the tree trunk, letting the spices of the Aglaophotis (the red plant that her Dad brought back from Gomorrah) take her mind to new places. She could dress the corpse of McCaw in a spare robe to make him look like one of the order. She intended to use his clothes to make her look like a police officer. She would claim to be an officer and that she had detained a couple of drug dealers if any of the locals asked what she was doing.

Dahlia smiled, she had no idea that murder was so simple. She dropped the corpse of, what was up until a few minutes ago, the good officer John McCaw onto the ground and looked for a good place to hide it until she found a robe to fit him. One of Nathan's would do as she couldn't bloody her own robes. She peered into the dark forest surrounding her. Then she saw it; a well. She looked back at the body, then slapped her head and groaned. The corpse had fallen face down, effectively nailing him to the ground. She tugged on the post for a few minutes without success.

Getting frustrated she spat on her palms and tugged on the post, while putting a foot on the back of McCaw's head for leverage. With a great "Schlock" she held the post up with glee. Glee soon turned to disgust as bits of brain matter started to rain down on her face. She vehemently threw the gore-encrusted pole into the forest, where it landed near a tree root that looked like a hand coming out of the ground. Groaning with effort Dahlia started dragging McCaw's body feet first into the forest. She cursed when she tripped over the hand shaped tree root. She looked a bit closer, her heart beating quicker with each second and nearly screamed when she saw a pair of dead black eyes staring back at her. She did not notice that McCaw's revolver was missing when she dumped him beside the well, thankful that no one came out here. Even if they did they wouldn't find the body.

She rushed back to the orphanage to get Nathan Durant's body as well as an extra robe. She tried ignoring everybody and those she did talk to she said that the director had something to show her in the garden before he had to go and meet the funding board. He wanted her to take care of it personally. That took care of all those that were adamant that she answer them. Most were ignorant or gullible enough to buy it and those that had doubts couldn't prove anything. Dahlia put one of Nathan's arms over her shoulders and started dragging him into the forest while no one was looking. It was not long before she had both bodies in the car with herself disguised in McCaw's uniform. She started to drive out of the orphanage's grounds towards the path of the righteous at the lake. The gravel under the car made a sound like static on a radio. Dahlia drove as fast as she could, hoping no one would become too suspicious of her absence for a while at least. Fog started to surround the car as if the elements themselves were trying to aid Dahlia in her task.

She took it as a sign that she was indeed performing God's will, and that Nathan was no longer fit to lead. She also saw this as a sign that any attacks from outsiders would be eliminated firmly and swiftly. She smiled as she switched to full beam and strained her eyes to make out a sign on the road ahead. She saw the part of it relevant to herself. It read "Silent Hill Observation Deck, 20 kilometres." The old observation deck was on the opposite side of the lake to the orphanage. The path of the righteous lay a short distance from there. She put her foot on the gas. Speed was a necessity at this time. Leonard could know nothing about this or he would surely kill her.

* * *

"10…11…12. Ha beat that Alessa," Claudia called smugly as she dusted her hands off. Finding no ducks to feed they had resorted to skimming stones on the shore of Toluca Lake. They had finished their lunch and Scamp had already scared off any ducks they could feed long ago. Right now he was attempting to catch the stones that the girls were skimming. Alessa scanned the beach, looking hard for a good skimmer. Finding a nice rounded one, made of a red stone that seemed to be smoothed glass, she curled her pointing finger and her thumb around it's smooth, hard edge. Then, with all the strength she could muster, she threw it at an angle that was almost parallel with the lake's glassy surface.

1…2…3…4…She noticed a fog rolling across the other side of the lake, speeding towards the observation deck (a viewpoint where tourists often travelled to gaze upon the beauty of Silent Hill's sacred valley). A dark ominous feeling made her body shiver as she looked at that fog. 12…13…14…

"Whoa! This could be a new record," Claudia said excitedly. 16…17…

"Hey!" A large fish jumped out of the water, swallowed the red stone and dived down again. It abruptly resurfaced, spitting out a small black fish before it swam away. The girls watched in fascination as a nearby pike then swallowed the black fish. The pike started to go into convulsions and died, the spasms breaking its own spine.

The girls looked at each other.

"Weird," Alessa said, "Let's go home. This place is starting to give me the creeps now." Claudia agreed and almost jumped when they turned towards the path home. There written in tiny letters on the sand was this message "Sire. Eb llahs ti os, dloterof si ti sa." Underneath it was the same symbol inscribed on their scriptures. Scamp came out of the water after chasing the fish. He carried the dead pike in his jaws and brought it to the girls, laying it at their feet. The look on his face said, "What's all the fuss about?" Alessa quickly picked up scamp and grabbed Claudia, who was studying the message intently.

"We are going NOW. Come _on _get the basket." Alessa said in a panicky tone.

Claudia mumbled to herself, "I'm sure it's not the ancient language. It must be a code of some sort."

Alessa couldn't believe her ears "Who cares? Let's just get out of here." With that the girls started running to the house.

* * *

Dahlia wrapped the police officers jacket around her tightly as the cold air chilled her bones. She put her right palm to her right cheek as she suddenly felt a cold shiver run from her head to her toes. This place had always given her the chills.

She remembered when her mother had first brought her here to send her father to God's realm. There had been an accident while building the new church that had left him brain dead. Her mother and leader at the time Father Lucifus had convinced her that the only way to free his soul was to send him through the gateway to God's kingdom by burning the body and setting it adrift into Toluca Lake. They were partially right. It did release his soul, but not to God's realm. He was released from all spiritual and physical bonds.

He had come to her in a dream one night and told her this. It seemed that his soul had started to journey outside his body from the moment he was brain dead. The ceremony completely severed his ties from the physical world. Since then he had been there to support her whenever she needed it, even though she didn't always know it. He could not manifest himself in the physical world but was able to bee seen in dreams and White Claudia induced trances.

Dahlia flinched as cold, sharp branches scraped the back of her neck as she dragged Nathan's equally cold body down to the lake. She resolved herself to finishing the task at hand. She had come too far to give up now. The cold, dead proof was being dragged behind her. 'Oh Alessa. Why couldn't you just have mothered God? Then I wouldn't have had to kill anyone and we could have lived happily in paradise together.' She shed a tear as she thought of the suffering that was still to come. The tear landed on a White Claudia petal. A snowflake descended from the heavens soon after. 'Even the heavens cry at what is to come,' she thought, as she carried on towards the pier.

* * *

Lenny Jenkins was huddled in a corner when Carl Stanly came to collect him, keys jangling at his sides.

"Come on Lenny. Get up. The chief wants to see you."

Fear filled Lenny's eyes as the bulky guard approached him, "B...Bbbb…But I d…didn't do nothing wrong. I didn't. I swear." Carl came over to pick up Lenny's skinny featherweight body. "No please don't punish me. I didn't do nothing. I didn't do nothing." Lenny raved at the peephole that he knew was there.

Andrew DeSalvo watched Carl drag Lenny out of the dark, filthy, stinking hole that was his cell. He climbed down the ladder and checked on the kitchen through a peephole nearest his desk on the ground floor. He rubbed his grubby, fat palms together, "Yes. Soon it will begin. Once the other gatekeepers are found and informed of their destinies, it will begin. And then _paradise._" He whispered the word as if the dream might be destroyed just in case he spoke too loudly. He climbed back up the ladder and watched the progress of the other guards.

* * *

Bit sinister towards the end but thats what its like at a prision run by the Order. Hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R  
Cheers  
Wolf


	7. Chapter 7

Pretty intense chapter. You have been warned. It gets better though.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 7: Of Love, Fear and Blood

A large violent thump, followed by a scream of pain caused Vincent to look up sharply from his books. He had heard the front door close a couple of minutes ago and voices talking in happy conversation after. It must have been the girls. He had heard footsteps travel from the front door to their dorm room. He slapped his forehead. 'Stupid boy, stupid kid. You should never have assumed that _both_ of them went to their room. One of them must have gone downstairs and found Father Wolf praying. How could either of them know that he used White Claudia to induce a trance so he could talk directly to God? It's a secret that has only just been revealed to me after years of study.'

"THUMP." It sounded like a wrestling match was taking place in the alter room. Vincent burst open his door and saw Alessa standing in her doorway, the same fear and urging in her eyes. Vincent's eyes filled with more fear when he realised who was being beaten. 'Oh my God Claudia, my love. NO. Stop him quickly. Get down there now before he kills her. Where is the director? Oh God where the hell is everyone?' Panicked thoughts rushed through his mind as he raced down the old stairs to save Claudia. He would do anything for her, and as much as he respected Father Wolf, he would make his life a living hell if he hurt Claudia. Death was too good for anyone that harmed even a single hair on her precious head.

The banister shook; as he rushed down the stairs and went to kick open the basement door. To his surprise he found the door already open. 'Of course, Claudia had Dahlia make her a spare key so that she could talk to God herself. Without White Claudia of course but she did not know its secrets yet, her faith was enough for her.' Alessa had a key too. The keys were kept inside their favourite dolls. Claudia had told Vincent this one-day while they shared a picnic under a large oak tree. Vincent could not move when he saw them. He stood, paralysed by fear as he saw the monstrous Father Wolf beat and kick Claudia raving on about how the world had defiled her. She was her mother's child and was born to betray him. The White Claudia had given him the countenance of a madman.

Alessa followed Vincent as closely as she could, praying to God that they would get there in time. 'Claudia must have gone to ask him about the strange message. How can he do this to her? She's his daughter for God's sake.' Fire burned within Alessa. 'Must stop him. Stop him for good.' Alessa didn't know what she was going to do but it had to be big and it had to be now. Then she saw them. Vincent was obviously frozen to the spot with fear as his whole world was brought crashing down around him. Poor kid had probably never seen his precious Father Wolf behave like this. Alessa pushed Vincent back out of the way so that he wouldn't see anymore. Rage consumed Alessa when she finally saw what Vincent had witnessed…

Claudia was lying on the floor in a heap, by the alter. Fresh blood dripped down from the alter onto Claudia's face. She was struggling to breathe, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

"Traitorous spawn of a witch. Why don't you call to her? Maybe your precious mother will save you. Or maybe she's too busy in the director's office stabbing me in the back and taking away everything that I have worked for. Either way we will soon find out." Leonard roared as he picked up a chair and raised it above his head.

Claudia raised her arm in front of her face to defend herself. "Please father. I did nothing to you. Stop Daddy please. NOO." Claudia stopped screaming when she realised that the chair had frozen inches above her face.

Claudia looked around and saw Alessa standing in the doorway. There was a fiery aura surrounding her and her eyes had turned completely black with thin, jagged streaks of orange, like fiery coals. Her arms were outstretched as if she were casting a spell. Claudia then smiled and promptly blacked out. The blood from the alter still dripping down her face.

Alessa called to Vincent "Grab her and take her up to her bed then call Doctor Kaufmann. He should know what to do. " Vincent nodded and sprinted to his beloved's side. He put his head under her shoulder and his arm around her waist, then attempted to half-lift, half-drag her out of the room. When she heard them reach the landing Alessa made the room key float out of Leonard's pocket and into her hands. As it travelled across the room she noticed what was on the alter.

"Scamp? NOOOO." He had run on ahead with Claudia when she went to talk to Father Wolf, he must have been the first to suffer. Alessa ran to the alter and grabbed the puppy. Leonard was still frozen in mid-air, Alessa gave him a hateful look and wished right there and then that he would die. She found that she didn't have the strength to kill him with her powers, as just at the boiling point of her rage something started absorbing her anger. Her power ebbing away, she realised that the only thing she could do was lock him in the basement and hold him there until her mum showed up. Alessa gently laid Scamp on the stairs while she locked the door. Once the door was locked she heard a thump against the door and a loud cry of rage sound from the other side. She picked Scamp up again and took him to the bathroom. His body was a bloody mess. It seemed that he had been skinned and his head cut cleanly in half. The cut was vertical and made the two halves of his head flap and join in perfect symmetry.

Alessa's cheeks were wet with tears, her eyes red and puffy from rubbing them. She had done her best to bandage Scamp up to stop the bleeding. She had laid him on her bed. The room was empty, as Vincent had laid Claudia on the living room couch for a while so he could get her some water to drink. Claudia slipped in and out of sleep and barely responded to his voice. He spent a good bit of time just talking to her and trying to give her some nourishment to keep her health up. Alessa was glad they were out of the way as she didn't want either of them to see what she was about to do.

She planned to heal Scamp with her powers. She was nervous as she had only used her powers to hurt others or defend herself, but never to heal. She laid her hands on his small wrapped body. It was still warm. She looked into her innermost self, gathering all the power she had. Suddenly her body bolted upright and a strange voice uttered an unknown language from her lips.

"Sire delaeh eb dna esidarap ydobme. Esidarap ot htaed morf. Htaed ot dertah morf. Dertah ot nis morf." The puppy's dead body was suddenly wracked with violent convulsions as if something was being forced back in. It rose about two feet off the mattress and then fell. Scamp collapsed on the bed, his breathing was shallow but Alessa was glad that he was breathing at all.

She gently scratched behind his ear, speaking in a soothing manner, "There, there now. It's all over. Shhhh. That bad man will never hurt you again."

Vincent entered the room and laid Claudia on her bed. She was mumbling in her sleep. He put his hand to her forehead trying to soothe her.

"There my love. Sleep peacefully, there will be no more hurt. No more pain from him." Vincent saw Alessa and turned to face her. He too had been crying. His belief was shaken to its very foundations. 'How can God suffer one man to choose between faith and love?' Vincent knew he was weak and could not choose, so both suffered nearly to the point of death. With an angry heart, he now chose which one to destroy. Although his choice was late, he would still make it count. After all how could he believe in a God full of the promise of love, yet the same God was still willing to let love suffer under the anger of a so called messenger of God? The man beat up his own daughter. One of the people he should have loved the most. Vincent came to the conclusion there and then that he followed a religion that worshipped a dead God. He was almost right.

He took his glasses off to clean the tears off the lenses with his T-shirt.

He looked directly at Alessa, "He will pay dearly for this. I am going to see to it that he never darkens this happy home again. I warn you, do not try to stop me."

Alessa spoke calmly, "I will not stop your efforts. In fact I fully support you in this matter."

Vincent nodded his head once solemnly, "Thank you. What the hell is that mess on the bed?"

Alessa held back the sobs that were begging to be released in a tidal wave of bitter emotion, "It's what that bastard did to Scamp."

Vincent gritted his teeth, stood up and started walking out of the room. "Take care of Claudia. Dr Kaufmann should be here soon. I have a call to make…" Alessa watched him close the door and heard him walk down the stairs. She wondered who he was going to call.

* * *

Anyone else got the ghostbusters theme tune in their head right now? Haha. Hope you enjoyed it. More will be posted up soon.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	8. Chapter 8

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 8: The Lady of Toluca Lake

A small black telephone tried to ring loudly on Officer Matthias Gucci's desk. He nearly didn't pick up as the noise was nearly drowned out by the sounds of the riot that was taking place in the department. He eventually realised that the phone was ringing when he went to ring the bowling alley to reserve his usual two lanes. He picked up the shiny black receiver; like everything else on his desk it looked like new. He was obsessed with having a clean desk. 'Clear desk, clear head,' he often thought.

"Hello. Silent Hill police department, homicide section, Officer Matthias Gucci speaking, how may I help you?" He pressed the phone closer to his ear to make out the answer on the end of the line but no matter how hard he tried he could hardly hear a thing. "Sorry just a moment." He carefully set the phone down. Frustration setting in he walked over to the door of his office and bellowed at the crowd. "SHUT UP. BUNCH OF BRAINLESS IDIOTS, CAN'T YOU SEE I'M ON THE PHONE HERE?" There was complete silence for a couple of seconds. "Thanks. There that wasn't so hard was it?"

He gently closed the door with a smile on his face. He fixed his hair and adjusted his tie, as if the person on the other end of the line could see him. Nevertheless he maintained that first impressions were everything. He sat down at his desk and was about to pick up his phone when a bout of raucous laughter broke out in the hall. He even caught a couple of sarcastic impressions. "Sons of bitches." A scowl dominated his normally cheerful face, hiding his laughter lines that crinkled across his face.

"Hello?" Finally he could hear someone on the other end. Even still the voice that he heard was blubbering and hard to understand.

"He's dead, Bob's dead. Oh God mister you gotta help me. Please. Please." There was a definite sense of urgency in the tone. Sounded like a kid too.

Gucci put his hands up as if the kid was sitting in front of him. "Whoa! Slow down there son. Calm down I'm here. I'll help you as best I can." The fast breathing on the end of the line slowed its pace; a sniffle came through every now and then. "There that's better. Now tell me slowly what's wrong."

Vincent smiled malignantly, took a breath and then started to put his plan into effect. "It's my friend Bob. I'm sure that bad man killed him. He's been missing for the last few days. I would have called earlier but the bad man is always watching us."

Gucci wore a down to earth face he was constantly surprised by the dark nature of the human race. "Who is the Bad Man? I take it that he's not watching you now."

Another sniffle sounded "Leonard. Leonard Wolf. He's a priest in charge of Wish House's Church of God. Lately he's been acting strange. Ever since Bob disappeared. The…_sniff…_the last time I saw Bob was when he walked into Father Wolf's office. Me an Bob had been playing dares and we dared each other to go as far as we could into the forbidden forest without getting scared. The adult's don't really allow us to go outside the grounds when there is a fog. They say it's for our own good. I had reached the wall near the well at the winding path's dead end," Vincent declared proudly.

"Well anyway, Bob had reached as far as the well when Father Wolf appeared and shouted at us to come back. "What are you boys doing? You know it's forbidden to enter the forest when it's foggy unless you have an adult with you. Both of you will come with me right now." Nothing happened to me as he thought that I was there to try and stop Bob from going. Bob went into his office where I heard a lot of shouting and beating. I…I ran and hid in my bed to wait for Bob to come back up to the boy's dorm, but I haven't seen him since. Today I heard the same noises and decided it had to be stopped. I found him beating his daughter so I distracted him by throwing a chair at him. I grabbed his key, picked up Claudia and locked him in his office. Please come. I don't wanna die." Vincent stopped to let out a sigh and even blubber some more.

'Wow. Brave kid.' Gucci admired Vincent's courage. Suddenly something clicked in Officer Gucci's mind. 'Isn't that where McCaw was going?' He briefly thought back to earlier that day.

Gucci was taking numbers of who was going to go bowling that night.

"John you in man?"

John looked up from his paper-covered desk. "Yeah but don't wait up on me. I'm still working on that White Claudia drug ring. I might have a decent lead to follow with this Kaufmann guy. I hear that he does a lot of work up at that Wish House place when he's not at the hospital. So I have to trail my butt up to this backwater nursery and with my luck it's just to find out that he's been smuggling lollipops up to the poor kids."

Gucci laughed "Go get em cowboy ha ha. Seriously man are you coming or not?"

John frowned "Yes I'm coming alright? I probably won't make the first game. Just order me a cold one and I'll make it down when I find my way back. Scratch that. If I find my way back."

Gucci grinned, "How long you been here John?"

McCaw scratched his head "Bout three and a half years. Why?"

Gucci shook his head and tutted "Three and a half years and you still don't know the area? Jeez do you wear a blindfold to work or what? In case you haven't noticed we live in a small town…not a city. Oh but I forgot you were raised in a cattle shed. This place must be huge to you."

John shook his head knowing that Mat would carry on like this for some time. "Back off Mat. I'll find the place. I can always find the way to your Mommas…even with a blindfold ha ha. Just order me a brew. I'll need it by then."

Gucci laughed "Gotcha. Will do. Well you have fun now." Mat waved goodbye. John gave him the finger. Gucci just laughed it off and shook his head.

Vincent wondered if the line was dead "Hello?"

Gucci woke up 'Crap almost forgot I was on the phone.' "Hello. You still there kid. Sorry something came up there. Hey kid did a policeman come to the house earlier or is one possibly there at the moment?"

Vincent shook his head as if Gucci could see him. "Not to my knowledge. Listen do you think I would have called you if there was a policeman already here? I'm not stupid mister. So are you sending someone or not?"

Gucci sighed, "Sure kid. Sure. I'll be up soon with backup. Just hold out till then OK kid." Gucci waited for an OK before he put down the phone. He frowned 'Hope McCaw is OK. Heck he probably just got lost is all,' he reassured himself. Gucci grabbed a few men and headed out to Wish House.

Dahlia cursed as her fourth match in a row blew out. She took another from the box. She prayed to God that it would light, as it was the last one. She struck it against the rough edge of the box and almost gave out a giggle of delight. The bodies lay floating on either side of her in the murky shallows of Toluca Lake. Each one was completely doused in petrol. She was about to throw the match onto Nathan's body when a chilly blast of wind swept down into the valley, across the lake and extinguished the small flame. Dahlia cursed again, furious that the fates were unhappy to just let her sacrifice these two sinners and let her be done with them. She doubted that rubbing two sticks together would work in this foggy atmosphere. Then it struck her. There was still a working cigarette lighter under the radio in the police car. All she would have to do was let the battery run for a couple of seconds and it would be ready to pop out and take down to the lake.

Seeing that the lake was like glass at the moment she knew that she could leave the bodies there without them moving. Never the less she tangled them in some reeds to make sure that they wouldn't travel, just in case her luck turned sour. Dahlia started wading hurriedly back to shore, disturbing the lakes smooth surface. She thought she could make out a figure on the pebbly beach but the fog partially obscured it so she couldn't be sure who it was. Suddenly an image of her father appeared clearly, standing on the beach with an outstretched arm beckoning to her. The image called to her, telling her to hurry. Dahlia quickly obeyed and almost fell face first into the water in her hurry to reach him. As soon as her feet both touched the shore a large fork of red lightning flashed and dived towards the lake. The prongs struck the bodies setting them ablaze with bright red fire. Dahlia had never seen such a furious and hypnotic blaze in all her life. The lake's surface became completely black.

In the middle of the lake a large gateway rose up. It was made of a distorted structure of flesh and bone and was burning with the same fierce, unquenchable red fire. The gates swung open as if pushed by an invisible hand. Dahlia nodded and smiled, "Take these offerings Lord God and use them as you will. Soon you shall be born into this world and then we shall help establish your paradise. Eris." Dahlia jumped back with a small scream when she saw a small, pale, bony hand wrapped in shrunken skin rise from the water and start to snap the reeds that bound the burning corpse of Officer McCaw. Another hand rose shortly after. This one was covered in shades of blue and grey. The flesh itself was rotted and quite bloated. The odour of the dead hands and the burning corpses were almost too much for Dahlia to bear as she pinched her nose hard to block the sickening smell out. More hands arose and started snapping the tangled reeds. Once the bodies were free the hands started to push the two corpses towards the centre of the lake.

They pushed them all the way to the gate where they suddenly disappeared beneath the surface and let the two burning bodies float through the gate by the force of momentum alone. It was soon easy to see why the hands had disappeared as once on the other side of the gate the glassy black waters of Toluca Lake started to ripple from an unseen presence that lurked beneath the water. A red light started to glow, even brighter than the corpse's flames. It surrounded the bodies from below and became more intense until it was almost blinding. Suddenly fleshy tentacles, looking like oversized umbilical cords or skinned anacondas missing their heads, shot up out of the water. They quickly wrapped themselves around the bodies and violently snatched them, dragging them down into the depths. Whether they were being dragged to the bottom of the lake or Hell itself, Dahlia didn't care, she was rid of them now and that was all that mattered. It was in God's hands now. She made her way back to the car in a state of ecstasy, got in and started singing hymns as she drove back towards Wish House.

Vincent waited on the porch quietly with a small smile on his face. Alessa came out to join him. Vincent looked up, "How are they?"

Alessa sighed, "Both are in a bad way but they will survive thank God. I hope the doctor gets here soon. Come to speak of it where is Mother?" As if to answer her question Dahlia walked out of the gate that led to the garden. After ditching the car in another part of the lake and hiking it around the outskirts of the house to the path in the woods she was quite breathless.

She looked quite serious, "What has happened here?"

Alessa got up and ran to Dahlia, abandoning all feelings of detachment. "Mother, thank God you're here. Where have you been? Leonard started to beat Claudia. We stopped him and locked him in his private chapel in the basement."

Dahlia put her hands to her face, "Oh my God. Is she all right? I…I have to call Dr Kaufmann. I take it you put her in bed? Oh that son of a bitch is going to pay. I swear it."

Just then Vincent spoke up "It's already been taken care of. Where were you?"

Dahlia scowled at him, "Not that it's any of your business young Vincent but I was out walking in the garden. I needed some time to think and some questions to be answered."

Vincent pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose, "And did you find these answers?"

"Don't be so nosy Vincent," Alessa reprimanded him, "Can't you see mother is tired and needs rest?" Vincent nodded in agreement. He could ask these questions later. The small level of respect that he had for Dahlia had fallen to nothing. She had failed in her role as mother and protector of her children. Dahlia collapsed onto the dusty ground, crying. She realised what she had done, what she had risked in order to gain the power that she had sought after. Both children took an arm each and helped her to her room on the ground floor, beside the director's office.

For the next hour Vincent and Alessa worked hard to tend to the needs of the orphanage. They were encouraged when they saw that even little Walter was trying to help. With the psychotic Father Wolf locked in the basement, the sorrowful Dahlia spent of tears, slumbering in her room and the director God knows where, there was simply no one mature enough to look after the place. The two even bonded a little through the event. Alessa found herself looking more and more at Vincent in a good light. 'Whoa gotta lay off the sweet thoughts. He's my sisters boyfriend,' Alessa thought as she gave herself an internal slap to wake herself out of it. He was kneeling at Claudia's bedside. It seemed that somehow Scamp had managed to work his way from Alessa's bed into Claudia's arms, where she held the bandaged and bloodied little creature like her favourite doll. It looked like she was talking in her sleep. Vincent tenderly stroked her long blonde hair before he got up.

"What is it?" Alessa asked, trying her hardest not to like him too much.

"Sirens. Can't you hear them?" Vincent asked softly, so as not to wake Claudia.

Alessa concentrated for a moment, listening for a sound. "Oh yeah. Must be the police. Thank God. What took them so long I wonder?" Vincent ran down the stairs as fast as he could. He had to put this part of the plan into action quickly before anyone could argue with him and possibly set Father Wolf free in the process. The squad cars sped up the long driveway, sending bits of gravel flying everywhere and cracking the windscreen of one of the trailing cars. To Vincent's surprise Dr Kaufmann was right behind them. The hospital had said he was busy and might be delayed. Vincent realised that this was going to be more difficult than he had originally thought.

* * *

The plot thickens. I must admit the young cultists are a fun bunch of charaters to write. Cute and evil at the same time. Hope you are enjoying their antics. More to come soon.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	9. Chapter 9

Long chapter this one. Mostly because of all the action sequences. Stick with it though. A few familiar faces act as cameos.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 9: Dead man's hand

Officer Matthias Gucci or Mat to his friends was having a very bad day. First of all his traditional weekly bowling night had been put on hold due to the excessive caseload. It was instead replaced by a quick pint down at the pub, which he wouldn't even get to with this added on to his work. Everyone in the department had been working sixteen-hour shifts to try and cope with the amount of work. After that there was only enough time to eat and sleep. Even with that the sleep was too little in quantity. The local bums had all gone crazy for some reason. They were spouting tales of unearthly beings moving around in the shadows. None of the investigating officers had actually seen anything but still they knew that there was something out there spooking the homeless bad. Most of them had taken to vandalising cars and buildings in order to get arrested. They figured that the police station was the safest place to stay as the streets were becoming too dangerous at night. When officers threw them back out into the streets they just retaliated by attacking the cops that threw them out. As a result they were immediately thrown back in the cells for assaulting an officer.

He was also worried about John. McCaw's wife had called the station just before Gucci left. She wanted Mat to check if John was still there and if he was to tell him that he was to get back to her pronto. She was worried about him, she had called Annie's Bar already and there was no sign of him. Gucci had known for a fact that McCaw was heading to Wish House before he headed to the pub with a few of the boys as the bowling night was off. Gucci had presumed that McCaw was already at the bar when he didn't respond to his radio. All Gucci got was static as a reply. Maybe this call was no coincidence. He started to fear for John's life.

The place was hard to find. He had to drive along narrow, winding back roads to get there. It was close enough to the lake for children to walk down to the beach for a swim. However it was a brave child that ventured such a journey as the path led down through a large, creepy forest. "SMACK." Gucci nearly lost control of the car as a large piece of gravel flew up and cracked the windshield.

Gucci picked up the radio "Damn it Magee. This isn't a rally. What the hell are you playing at?" The radio responded with some sort of apologetic answer but it was full of static. 'That's strange. The reception should be as clear as a bell.' Out of the corner of his eye Gucci thought he saw movement in the forest. He ignored it, 'Probably just a squirrel' he thought to himself.

The cars pulled up in front of Wish House. The officers armed themselves but kept their weapons holstered.

Gucci saw a little boy sitting on the porch. "You must be Vincent."

Vincent looked up and squinted at the detective. He was busy drying the tears off his lenses with his T-shirt. He had been forcing himself to cry earlier so that he would look distraught for the police. He sniffed as he put his glasses back on. "Yeah. Are you the man I talked to on the phone?"

Gucci nodded "Yes that's me. Where is this Mr Wolf?"

Vincent grabbed Gucci's arm and yelled "This way. He's down in the basement." Gucci followed as quickly as he could.

Dr Michael Kaufmann stepped out of his shiny black Cadillac looking like a movie star from the 1950's. He had a cold, hard stare underneath his slicked back, black hair. He intended it to make him look professional. Instead he came across as a haggard, cold, troubled man who probably found it extremely difficult sleeping at night. He wondered what was going on. He had got a rushed plea over the phone to come quickly to Wish House. He walked over to the nearest officer and grabbed him by the shoulder before he could go into the house. The officer quickly turned on him with a pistol trained on Kaufmann's face. It was obvious that this place had him spooked.

"Whoa, easy officer. I'm a good surgeon but even I can't take a bullet out of my own head."

The officer quickly lowered the weapon, "Oh a sorry doc. Can't be too careful out here in these parts y'know?"

Kaufmann gave him a strange look, "Ahem. Yes. Quite. Could you possibly tell me just exactly what's going on here?"

The nervous cop nodded, occasionally glancing around, looking for signs of anything strange going on, "Suspected and attempted homicide. You're here to pick up the casualty right?"

Kaufmann adjusted his large green tie, "I was called out to treat someone yes. However I was not given any details."

The cop moved closer to Kaufmann almost talking in a whisper, "Well it seems that we are here to tack down a possible murder suspect. Ain't that right Jefferson?" The dog by his side replied at the mention of his name, "Woof!"

"Name's Magee by the way. I already know you Doc. You saved my old man a few weeks back. Heart bypass. Thanks again for that."

"Don't mention it." Kaufmann said in a detached manner. "Why the dog?"

The cop nodded his head in Jefferson's direction "We brought Jefferson here in case of the probable event that any bodies were hidden near here recently."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Cute" he said sarcastically, "May I suggest that we go in now?"

The cop realised what he was doing and tugged on Jefferson's leash "Ahem, why yes. Yes of course." The officer stumbled and nearly tripped himself up when Jefferson's leash became entangled around his legs.

* * *

Alessa watched all the officers enter the house and rush down to the basement. She was going to give them the key but when she heard the door breaking open she decided not to mention it. The sounds of a short struggle made their way up the stairs. She was about to investigate further when Dr Kaufmann entered the house. "Alessa what's happened?"

Hope began to shine in Alessa's eyes. Maybe, just maybe Dr Kaufmann could help. "Thank God you're here doctor. Claudia's beat up real bad. Father Wolf just went crazy on her. Quickly come on, come on!" Kaufmann was grabbed firmly by Alessa and dragged upstairs. There Claudia lay with what appeared to be a bloody and bandaged piece of meat. Dr Kaufmann set his medical kit on the floorboards disturbing a cockroach that went running for cover under the bed.

Kaufmann sniffed in disgust, "Alessa can you take that thing away from her please?" Alessa quickly complied despite Claudia's faint protestations, even if they were while she was unconscious. 'Come on Claudia,' Alessa thought, 'Be all right. Be O K for me please.'

* * *

Gucci wiped his brow with a monogrammed handkerchief. 'Wow that madman put up quite a fight. I've never seen anyone that strong.' Gucci could hear the dog going crazy as Magee made some futile attempts to control it. Gucci waved him on.

"It's OK let him in." Jefferson bounded into the room barking everywhere. It wasn't long before he had unearthed Wolf's private stash of White Claudia. "Bingo" Gucci smiled "Looks like we have a motive. Drug induced madness."

Magee looked puzzled "What?"

Gucci turned to him to explain, "The kids were just being kids. Probably playing hide and seek when one of them stumbled unknowingly on Father Wolf in an unfit state. God knows what the good Father here thought the kid was, a monster or demon sent to torment him? It doesn't matter. What matters is that he attacked the child. I think I saw the doctor following us so he should be tending to her now. One last thing I need to know now." He now directed his attention to the cuffed and restrained Father Wolf, "Where is John you miserable bastard?"

Wolf looked confused "Who do you speak of sinner?"

Gucci became really angry "Sinner? I'd say that you are the greatest sinner in this room. Compared to you I'm a frikkin saint."

Leonard struggled to reach Gucci and almost broke the cuffs "Blasphemer. You would slander one of God's beloved? You will go to hell and burn in pain forever."

Gucci lost patience and ordered Magee to set Jefferson on him. The large German shepherd sniffed around Wolf a couple of times before letting out an excited yelp. The dog started to pull a struggling Magee up the stairs. "Whoa boy. Where the hell do you think you're going?" Officer Douglas Cartland ran hot on Magee's heels.

Both officers ran after the large dog. Gucci and the other officers stayed to hold and interrogate Father Wolf a bit more until Magee and Cartland got back. The dog dashed to the back of the house and was up on its hind legs pawing at the garden gate. Cartland opened it quickly to try and prevent the dog from injuring itself. Magee gave up trying to restrain it and just started to run along with the overexcited animal. It was not long before they came across a shrivelled hand reaching out of the ground. Magee was on his hands and knees puking his guts out on the forest floor when Cartland eventually caught up with him. "My God. What sort of manic is this guy?" Jefferson sniffed the ground near the hand and started to bark again. The dog took off again at a tremendous pace.

Cartland looked at Magee, "Well don't just stand there. Follow him. I'll recover the body." Magee wiped his mouth, took a swig from his water canteen and nodded. He started to dash rapidly after the dog.

Cartland tried his radio. It responded with nothing but white noise static. The reception was terrible. 'Must be a dead zone' he thought. Douglas tried the radio again…still nothing.

"Hey Magee. I'm getting nothing on the radio. How about you?" he shouted.

There was a muffled "No" heard in the distance.

"Guess we shoulda brought the carrier pigeons this time ha ha." Cartland gently dug around the body and began trying to bring it up. He brushed soil away from the face and fell back in shock. 'Jesus. He looks just like my son.' He noticed a glimmer of light coming from around the dead boy's neck. It was one of those dog tags that the army used. The kids in the town were all wearing them. It was the new craze. They thought it made them look cool. This one had the name Robert Blake inscribed on it. Cartland cupped his hands and called Magee again "Dennis. I've unearthed the body. You and that daft dog got anything yet?"

An eerie silence came back as a reply.

"Come on Dennis stop fooling around. Have you found anything?"

Still no noise.

Douglas didn't like this. No sound at all, no animals, no birds, nothing. He drew his gun and started walking sown the garden path. Beads of nervous sweat formed on his brow. He rounded swiftly to the right. He thought he saw a shadow move out of the corner of his eye.

"C…come out with your hands up asshole. I saw you." He noticed a revolver lying by an old stone well. It was McCaw's. It had to be. He was the only one in the station that carried one. The force was issued with Berettas as standard but McCaw refused to switch from his revolver. It was some sort of sentimental cowboy thing. Something moved in the shadows again. "Alright. I see you. Come out slowly. I might as well tell you that I'm the best shot on the force so there's no point in running." The shadow started to run but quite the opposite way that Cartland expected. The thing was charging at him. "Stop there right now. If you don't stop in three seconds I will be forced to take lethal action and _make_ you stop."

The shadow did not heed his warning but instead sped up, kicking up pine needles in its wake. "Three…two…I'm warning you…one…right." He focused on the target and then gently squeezed on the trigger. The shadow lunged for him.

"BAM, BAM."

The shots echoed across the valley. The attacker let out a sharp, husky groan before it went down, landing with a soft thump on the forest floor. Cartland let out a sigh of relief as the shadow was brought down just inches from his feet. He bent down to examine the body and was horrified to find that he had just shot Jefferson with two neat holes. One puncturing his left eye, the other nestling in his forehead. "Oh God, I'm going to loose my job. How am I gonna look my kid in the eye when I come home a penniless good for nothing?" He looked closer at Jefferson and noticed that the area around the dog's mouth was covered in blood. 'What the?' He picked a piece of skin from the dead dogs bloody jaws. "Oh my God. Dennis."

Douglas ran as fast as he could in the direction Officer Magee had gone. 'Please be all right, what the hell was wrong with Jefferson? What the hell is wrong with this place? It used to be such a quiet, peaceful little town. Oh no!' At that moment everything occurred in slow motion. Douglas stopped dead in his tracks, then fell on his hands and knees and violently threw up. The smell of which blocked out the spice of the raw aglaophotis, and in consequence, saving his life.

Dennis Magee was lying down next to the red flower. His body lay still except for the gentle breeze that blew through his light blonde hair and the small flaps of skin that surrounded the hole in his belly where his intestines should have been. The grass around the body was covered in hues of red and brown. The thing that really creeped Douglas out was that Magee had a large grin on his face. It was similar to when the Romans threw the Christians to the lions. Douglas willed himself to get up; his legs were weak and almost failing him.

There was a rustle in the bushes. Douglas whipped his head round and quickly checked his gun. 'Thirteen rounds left. More than enough if there's any trouble,' he thought trying to make himself feel a bit more secure. The shadow saw the gun and started moving in a way that was a cross between the way that a human runs and the way that a horse gallops. Douglas gave chase, not caring what it was. 'That thing must've killed Dennis. Soon its going to find out why you don't kill Douglas Cartland's partner and think that you're going to live to see the next day.' He suddenly found that he had a clear shot. He stopped, quickly took aim and fired three rounds. They all found their target and hit the thing once in the left leg and twice in the upper torso. Yet still the beast ran on at a frantic pace. Within a couple of minutes it started to limp slightly. The deeper he ran into the forest, the thicker the branches became. Soon he found it difficult to see. He started frantically pushing branches out of the way.

Cartland felt the cold drops of dew slap with the leaves against his face. He stopped in complete darkness, regretting that he ever got out of bed this morning. Where was the bastard? Suddenly the dim, orange light of a fire appeared as if from nowhere, shining slightly off to the right. 'This is bound to be a trap. Better take care.' Douglas heard the faint sounds of movement coming from up ahead, he started to aim his gun in the direction of the sound. As soon as the gun was fully raised the sound stopped. He crouched where he was in the pitch black, gun raised, awaiting an attack. Sweat from his brow started to get in his eyes, making him blink hard. He wiped his face on the upper part of his shaking arm. The attack did not come and the sound began again. Douglas realised that the creature was doing the same thing that he was. He looked toward the light and waited for the creature to confirm his suspicion. When a shadow flickered it was just what he was looking for. Caution thrown to the wind he sprinted towards the sound driven by rage.

The dense forest suddenly disappeared and soon it was apparent that he had come across a clearing. It appeared to have a large timber fence surrounding it. The fence itself was completely covered with large, pure white candles. Each one was unlit. He hoped they would remain so as he started to clamber over the timber fence. He jumped down and stayed low so as not to be seen. He knew that he had seen the shadow somewhere. In the middle of the clearing there was a large standing stone, covered with strange symbols and patterns. They seemed almost tribal. 'Must've belonged to the ancient natives of the land.' The dim light that he had seen earlier seemed to come from a small shrine at the base of the stone. Douglas was now more curious than angry. This place had a mysterious atmosphere to it. He saw movement, just as he thought this was where the thing was headed.

The shadow shambled over to the stone. Douglas heard it muttering some strange nonsense before two valves materialised out of nothing. He watched in disbelief as the creature grabbed the valves and placed them onto the stone where they fit into two of the grooves. Cartland looked stupefied 'I must be loosing my mind.' The figure bowed before the stone, then proceeded to turn the left valve a half turn clockwise. The left half of the clearing was suddenly lit up with candlelight. It then turned the right valve a half turn anti-clockwise.

It bowed again raising it's hands towards the stone. "Sire denepo eb ylerus llahs rood eht, dnal eht seifirup emalf sa." The tribal patterns that littered the stone started to whirl around the large monument. Gradually each black shape merged as if it were liquid, each crack became larger until a large, perfectly round hole was formed in the stone. It was outlined by two circles inside which appeared ancient runes that looked different from the original symbols on the stone.

The shadow carefully stepped inside the hole and after a few seconds Douglas heard the high pitched squeals of turning valves again. This time the valves on the outside turned without anyone visible moving them. The valves both turned together at the same time. The left did a full turn anti-clockwise and the right did a full turn clockwise. They both stopped at exactly the same time. Cartland noticed the candles start to go out one by one at the other end of the doorway. He listened carefully to see if he could make out any more words. Sure enough another short phrase emerged from the end of the hole. "Sire srennis live morf neddih si doG ot htap eht os dehsiugnitxe dlrow eht fo thgil htiw."

As soon as the creature's unearthly voice had ceased the whole forest fell under a death-like silence. It was as if time had stopped just for the creature's command. The last candle went out and a thick fog rushed in from nowhere and completely engulfed the clearing. Douglas swore he could hear ghostly voices whispering to him from within the fog. He saw more shadows lumbering around in the distance. He got a very bad feeling and started sprinting towards the stone in a vain attempt to undo the spell that had just been cast. When he got to the stone hope faded. What had been a black hole was now a tribal drawing, depicting the raising of a demon within a clearing just like this. That bad feeling niggling in the back of his head just became a lot worse.

"Shit. OK I know I saw a path around here somewhere. Now where is it?" Douglas walked until he found the fence again. He groped almost blind from the fog. Hand over hand on the fence, feeling his way around, occasionally burning his hand on hot candle wax, he looked about for the candle that he trod on when climbing over the fence. He gave a sigh of relief when he found it. 'Hopefully this will get me back to the house.' As soon as he put a foot on the path the fog completely disappeared. Douglas didn't wait long to figure it out. He just sprinted as hard as he could to reach the house and above all relative safety.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that. The next chapter is the one I had the most fun writing. So stay tuned. Should have it up soon. Please R&R  
Cheers  
Wolf


	10. Chapter 10

Fun chapter here featuring a couple of special guests.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 10: Saints and Sinners

Darkness saturated everything. It wasn't numb and without feeling as darkness is sometimes thought to be; this complete and utter darkness came along with pain and suffering beyond comprehension. Half of which was that of roasting flames, the other half was of the stabbing shock of icy water. Floating on a sea of pain, McCaw didn't know if he was on the surface of an ocean or underwater, all he knew was pain. "CLANK, CLANK, CLANK." The loud noise felt like it was about to burst his eardrums, when he recovered he could hear a faint voice talking to him.

"Wake up Mr McCaw; it is time to prove yourself as a righteous man." Suddenly McCaw found it possible to open his burning eyelids. Pain racked his entire body as he tried to take in his surroundings. He appeared to be submerged in a lake of blood. His head was stuck in a position so that he was constantly looking toward the surface.

As focus came back to his sore, naked eyeballs he found that he was trapped in a coffin-sized cage. He could see other cages through the rusty bars of his own. It seemed that he was amidst a field of cages, each one was held to the lakebed by an anchor. He tried to see where the voice came from but found that his head was almost completely paralysed, as if there were some sort of purpose in staring at the lake's surface. He crossed his eyes and saw the pointed end of a splintered wooden fence post sticking out from where his nose should have been. 'Either this is a horrible nightmare or I'm dead.'

A loud and clear voice sounded through the lakes atmosphere, "I'm afraid that it is the latter Mr McCaw."

John grimaced, "Well I guess that explains the unwanted nose job. Am I in hell?"

The voice replied in a puzzled manner, "You don't know where you are? You were sent through the path of the righteous. You should know the trials ahead, unless you were sent by accident. In which case you have my pity. As for the apparent lack of your face, the body you occupy now is a representation of the way that you looked the moment you died. In any case you are now free to walk the path."

McCaw fell out of the cage as if he were spat out of it. To his surprise he found that the bloody atmosphere around him was not thick like water but was as light as air. A path lit up in the red fog. 'This must be a continuation of the path of the righteous,' he thought to himself.

The voice spoke again; it was starting to annoy him. "You are correct Mr McCaw. This is the start of your journey. Walk the path and pass the trials before you. You will either receive power beyond your wildest dreams or your soul will be entrapped here to suffer for all eternity."

John groaned 'Great another death or glory freak. Well then I guess I'd better start walking.' He reached behind his head, got a good grip on the post and tugged. It didn't hurt but it was stubborn. Eventually it slid out the back of his head with a great "SCHHHLOCK." 'This could come in handy as a weapon,' he thought 'Wonder how I got this way? Wait a moment; I remember the last thing I saw was a garden in a forest. Must've been that witch back at the orphanage. Ooooh if I get out of this thing I'm gonna haunt her crazy ass.'

At that moment the voice spoke up again, "Forget her. You have more important issues. Follow the path and join your friend. He is just ahead. I have instructed him to wait for you."

McCaw got fed up "You're in league with her aren't you? Well I'll kick your disembodied ass too if I see you. I'm dead and pissed enough to do it. You see if I'm not." He took a few test swings at the fog before the voice spoke again.

"Take care here Mr McCaw. Sinners are not treated with leniency on the path of the righteous."

"Whatever. I'm out of here." John wondered what friend the voice meant. As he walked, searching for his friend he pondered what sort of creature the voice belonged to. It sounded like something that had been stabbed in the throat as it made a gurgling sound whenever it spoke. He couldn't tell if the voice was male or female. Suddenly he caught sight of a shadow up ahead in the red fog. As he got closer he saw what appeared to be a shambling figure struggling to move. A shimmering light glinted against the soft light of the pathway. The shimmering line seemed to run right through the figure. It looked like the figure was talking to and invisible presence and from the look of it the figure was not happy. 'Must be that annoying voice giving my friend the good news. I'd better go and help him out.'

"Are you sure? Why do I have to help him? He is not God's servant, he deserves nothing." Nathan Durant was furious, "Who sent him? Was it the work of that traitorous witch? I can't believe that she sent a sinner down the path of the righteous."

The voice coolly replied, "Sinners and saints are all alike. One separated from the other on God's holy ground. Yet all have a chance to prove themselves. If the executioners are sacked then power shall be yours but if either fails then both shall perish. Your fates are intertwined."

Durant shook his fist at the waters surface shimmering above him, "Damn you fate. Since when did you dictate God's law?"

The voice sounded puzzled "Fate? Who is Fate? My name is Jessica and I am but a messenger of God. She sees this as a way to redeem both your souls. You are as much a sinner as he is. You are worse if anything. Knowing about God and yet not believing."

Nathan hung his head in shame. "Fine. I'll wait then." There was no reply.

A bloodied hand slapped Nathan on the shoulder, "Hello friend."

Nathan looked up to see a man in a police uniform with a large portion of his face missing. He brandished a large wooden fence pole. It looked like the kind that he was using to make improvements to the garden. "Dahlia Gillespie got you too huh?" The man with the polo mint for a head nodded.

He spoke with a deep throaty voice, "Yeah. I take it that you're the elusive director?"

Nathan smiled and extended his hand, "Yes. Nathan Durant at…"

John quickly removed the machete from Nathan's chest before handing it to him. "Here you'll need it. From what I understand we're both in for a rough ride and don't bother complaining about the pain either. You're in a realm of pain you will get used to it. Hi, the name's John McCaw pleased to meet you."

Nathan shook hands "Nathan Durant and I was only going to point out that it was quite rude to remove it from my chest," his lungs made a low whistling sound as he was breathing out. John poked him in the belly with the post.

"It's your drug dealing antics that got me into this mess asshole."

Nathan raised the machete in a threatening stance. "Anything I did is in the past and was in the name of the Red God of whom I still have the hope of bringing back. At present a demon rules in her stead and he is trapped here with us. We are both dead in case you hadn't noticed so there are bigger things to think about other then playing the blame game."

They both sighed before John spoke. "Well it would seem that we're stuck in this together so let's get moving. We can talk on the way."

"Agreed," Durant replied as he fell into step with McCaw.

"So I take it you know what this is all about?" John asked him.

A grim look crossed Durant's face, "Yes and I am afraid that we are both in a rather large amount of trouble. You see this whole town used to be a sacred place where the natives worshipped an ancient entity, or God if you will, that had the power to create, shape and change reality at will. For those she loved it was paradise. However a demon by the name of Samael took a liking to the power of this place too. She was able to trap him here with some effort. In order to keep him here he is steadily fed on the lost souls that come here. Too weak to escape yet unable to die he raged in his prison. Sending sinners to him was her one mercy and turned out to be her last and biggest mistake. He grew strong enough to start building an army. It is here that he shapes sinners into soldiers and monsters to fight for him.

When people arrive here during a certain period in time they are trapped in a personal hell in where people's worst fears were manifested into monsters of unspeakable horror. She is not without mercy though, as in these hells her subjects had the chance to work their way back into her good graces. They could come back, but they would be radically changed if they did. If they did not then they remained as lost souls suffering their own tortures and becoming twisted enough for Samael to use as monsters themselves. The land did not stay this way as new religions moved in, things changed dramatically. Her power weakened and soon faded to a small spark. With less souls to control, her powers became limited, until she finally had to rely on her disciples to do her will. A couple of civilisations later and the town of Silent Hill was born.

Throughout history there have been mass disappearances in this area. Local authorities at the time put it down to immigration, but I tell you the truth. These unfortunate souls were all drugged and forced to serve this demon posing as God in order to give him the power to sustain and in time break away from the realms of this space. I was the leader of His disciples for some time and being in such a position I gained knowledge beyond my wildest dreams including the knowledge that the Order has been deceived from the beginning. The path we travel on now is an initiation ceremony to create His otherworldly saints. If sinners such as ourselves fail this task then we are doomed to become part of this place for eternity."

John held up his hand "Wait a moment. What do you mean about us both being in trouble exactly? Surely being His golden boy you will be looked upon more favourably than me."

Durant shook his head and let out a long heavy sigh accompanied by the low whistling from the hole in his lungs. "No. If anything I will be tested more harshly. For although I led the Order I believed I could bring back the Red God and defeat Samael. I was obviously wrong and am now being punished for it. I haven't the slightest idea how I could bring Her back in a realm under His control."

John clapped him on the shoulder, "Look on the bright side; at least we have weapons." Nathan smiled to try and reassure John, 'Simpleton. He can't comprehend what He can do. Maybe it's better that way. I wish that I could be as ignorant. On top of that he's the only friendly face I've got around here so I may as well amuse him.'

It was not long before they saw a large building whose tower reached above the water.

"What the hell is that?" John said, nearly falling over backwards to see how far it stretched up.

Durant sighed heavily with guilt. "That my blissfully ignorant friend is Toluca prison. It used to be visibly joined to the mainland back when Silent Hill was used as a prison camp during the civil war. The top half was renovated and rebuilt but the lower half sank a long time ago and was lost to the lake."

John was puzzled, "If this is on the lake then how come I've never seen it before. I've been out on the lake plenty of times fishing with my buddies and I've never seen any sign of it."

Durant smiled, "There was always a fog just offshore from the historical society that you stayed away from right?"

John answered, "Yes".

Durant closed his eyes; this confirmed his suspicions, "Well that's why you never saw it. I suppose Samael helped to hide it as well. Although I have no idea how."

John looked up and pointed towards the tower "You mentioned that the upper tower was rebuilt. What's it used for?"

Durant slowed down as if a heavy burden weighed down on him. "That is a tower of atrocities. It was our own man-made version of hell. It was my brainchild, designed to bring children up in the way of our Lord to fear and obey Him no matter what. This was during the time I was blind to the truth and still believed in the Red God knowing very little about Samael except as a Devil figure. A man Named Andrew DeSalvo insisted that he be put in charge of the facility. It is in this tower that we convert new believers through fear and suffering. They are all subjected to psychological terror and physical pain in that place. When they came back to Wish House they were nearly reduced to gibbering wrecks. However by this stage they were ready to do anything for God, such was the fear instilled into their young minds. I did not mean for it to go as far as he took it."

John frowned at Durant, "If you knew how bad it was then why didn't you stop it?"

Durant shrugged, "Like I told you before. That island is protected by powers beyond my comprehension."

John nodded frustrated at the way that nothing could be done to help these children, "What about the lower levels?"

Durant looked blankly ahead "I don't know. I never got to see it before. Although the history books say that it was some sort of giant death row. The military of the time somehow discovered the order's existence and sentenced suspected members to death by hanging or impaling for being heretics."

John whistled through his teeth "Wow, harsh." The two continued on, following the path to the side of the crumbling yet perfectly preserved building. The path split into two just before it reached the building. The left path led to a very narrow hole in the wall, the other led to a pair of large double doors, surrounded by candles. A small note was engraved into the wall between the two paths. The note read, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to pass through the gates of heaven. Black looks white but only when exposed to a pure light. Seek the truth to find the path to heaven."

John scratched his head in bewilderment, "Now what the hell does that mean?"

Nathan laughed, "It is easier than you think. Watch." He brought his machete up to the light and reflected the beams of candlelight into the hole in the wall. Suddenly the hole became bigger until it stretched to the size of the double doors. John raised his left hand, offering to let Nathan go through first, "Well I guess you'd better lead then."

* * *

Andrew DeSalvo sat in one of the towers observation rooms, smiling gleefully with anticipation as he waited for the escape sirens to start. They sounded a lot like and were indeed used as air raid sirens during the Second World War. They were to be the signal for the gatekeepers to start their journeys.

He thought back to earlier, when he gave his 'motivational' speech. "I know you are afraid of me and this place but you must overcome this fear for your service is required. God takes care of all her loyal and obedient servants. She has called me to select the most loyal among her flock. You children will bring in the dream of a new era. One where a holy paradise is created on Earth, so that God may come down and reign in all her heavenly splendour. This is a task of great responsibility and as such you may carry it out with the knowledge that your lives depend on it. Go to your cells now and await your release. Soon you will be taken to a boat and transported to shore. Once there wait for the sirens before starting your mission. May God be with you during this task, go in peace my children." He scanned the weekly reports, all the while smiling and thinking to himself, 'Not long now.' The anticipation was killing him. He tried to busy himself by reading the reports but his attention was almost completely diverted to watching the gatekeeper's cells.

* * *

John and Nathan looked more like a pair of broken puppets than two righteous warriors when they entered a large courtyard. They had walked through a couple of long corridors filled with empty cells to get here. From the sounds around them it appeared that the cells were still occupied. Voices of pain echoed down the large corridor. One with a sense of humour shouted, "Dead men walking" when they passed its cell. The courtyard that they stood in now was huge. The ground was damp and muddy though it was easy enough to walk on. Sounds of ships passing overhead and dripping water filled the room. Soon the pair came across a large gallows. Upon the front of the gallows were two tablets carved into the wood. They read "The false leader" and "The fallen warrior." There were two pictures and a small amount of writing under each one. The first was of a man on fire leading a crowd into heaven, underneath was written "To know but not believe is a great sin. To lead others to God is a great redemption. To the false leader I have granted access to the trial, through my manipulation and infinite mercy." The other picture was of a showdown. Two enemies battled to win a maiden's favour; the winner had pierced the maiden in order to vanquish his foe. "To kill the innocent in order to slay the guilty takes all glory out of victory and defeats the purpose of a hero's existence making him obsolete. However saving my children grants him a chance for redemption. Walk the path and conquer your fate, then the way will be free to pass through heaven's gate."

As soon as they finished reading the tablets a pair of nooses dropped and cages full of people fell from the ceiling. They swung wildly after the drop. They looked like skinned people with bleached white skulls. Their flesh clung loosely to their frames and attached them to their cages, holding them to the back of their cage. They were hanging upside down, large claws protruded from their dangling arms. Their eyeballs dangled on cords from their sockets and small insect-like legs and wings grew from the back of them so that they could move freely about the cage, yet they were still connected to the skull by a thin cord of nerves and rotten flesh. As the cages turned the two dead men saw that there was more to these monsters. The back of the cage held a mass of flesh, bone and nerves that formed a mouth and two large hands to grab its food.

Durant ducked and pulled John's head down before a large claw swiped at it. "Dredgers. Drowned souls dedicated to dredging the lake floor in order to pick up stray souls so that their physical bodies could float to the surface. Once their bodies were discovered they could be buried and rest in peace. Make sure that their large hands at the back don't grab you. Stow your weapon away until you need it. We can take care of these things without them, just stay low and you'll be fine." John nodded, put the fence post down the back of his shirt and stayed low. They started to make their way out of the room in order to come up with a plan.

There was a strange muffled roar emanating from the far corners of the room. Two sets of bubbles emerged from the solid ground. As soon as the first one popped it sent out multiple ripples. The effect of these ripples turned the ground into a sort of thick liquid with the consistency of quicksand. Durant and McCaw found themselves barely able to move. Small brown/grey mounds rose up from the mud and bobbed on the surface. A couple came up from under the men and they tried desperately to keep their balance. John shouted in alarm when his mound rolled over to reveal a torso and head with a large circular hole puncturing the area that the heart normally resided in. A look of rage contorted the victim's face. A pair of hands came up through the hole in the chest and tried to cover the hole so that nothing could get through.

"Jesus. What are these things?"

Durant trying to keep his balance explained, "They must be the innocent victims slaughtered by a pair of monsters known as the punishers, (a particularly nasty set of creatures that you don't want to meet). These victims hate the punishers and are more than willing to do anything to annoy them or hinder them."

John cocked his head "You mean these things are the good guys?"

Durant nodded "Yes so try not to annoy them by poking around the hole in their hearts. As long as we have them on side we should be relatively safe from the Dredgers."

They did not notice two red fins rise slowly from the murky ground. Their movement barely disturbing the surface. They headed towards the gallows, where they felt most at home. The Dredgers started to swing more violently as bodies started to appear beneath them.

Durant scratched his chin as he surveyed the situation. "I think we have to move from body to body to reach the gallows. I don't know why though. The punishers haven't appeared yet." "CLUMP" A large grey hand with bone poking through the fingertips came down on the wooden steps and dragged a partially skeletal body up to rest on the bottom of the steps. The creature righted itself and reached down to the murky depths where another bony hand burst from the mud to meet it. The first creature pulled the second up and they ascended the gallows steps together.

John and Nathan directed their attention to the gallows, from which dull thudding sounds could be heard. They watched with fascination and anticipation as two red points appeared and became larger to reveal two red pyramids. The similarities stopped there. It appeared that these two things were soldiers from different sides in the civil war. Their uniform was bloodied and tattered but colour could still be seen, one was a navy blue and the other was a dark grey. Their skeletal frames were tightly covered with muscle. Pulsing organs could be seen through the spaces in the fleshy strips that covered their lower arms and chest areas. Thick, brown liquid oozed over the organs to slowly drip over their bones. Whenever they touched something their coagulated blood stained it. One carried a large lance with a wicked barbed tip. The other carried a very large blade that took nearly all its superhuman strength to barely drag it. Both weapons were stained with the blood of a thousand innocent victims. The victims screamed when they saw the monsters. It was obvious that these weapons could destroy spirit as well as flesh.

Terror flooded into John's heart as he watched the two strange creatures beckon to him and Nathan.

Nathan spoke up among the screaming, "Ah right well. They would be our goal then. We have to make our way over to them and defeat them. So the trial has begun. Come on we'd best get mov…" A large pair of claws darted between John and Nathan, pierced the body they were currently crouching on and yanked it up out of the mud, sending the pair flying. The Dredger struggled to keep a grip on the slippery convulsing body. John and Nathan struggled to reach the surface as they sank down further. The Dredger began devouring the body head first with the jaws at the back of the cage. Whenever the chewed up, rotted flesh fell into the front of the cage it wrapped around the skeletal figure in the front of the cage. At that moment the chain holding the cage snapped and sent the cage crashing into the mud. The mouth at the back of the cage let out a roar of pain as the creature from the front crawled out of it, new, changed and horrible. It breathed one last word before sinking into the mud forever

"Free."

Darkness. Thick, swirling darkness surrounded John. He desperately tried to fight his way to the surface and find Durant. He was resolved to overcoming this trial, as he sure as hell wasn't ready to suffer an eternity of pain and suffering. However try as he might he wasn't getting any closer to the surface. Suddenly he felt a small hand grab his arm and start trying to pull him up. Had he seen the creature he maybe wouldn't have accepted the help so readily. It was a small arm about the size a child would have but it was an arm with two strange appendages. Each looked like a large webbed hand and was attached to the shoulder joint of the arm like flippers. More of the creatures pulled him to the surface until his head was finally pulled free of the mud. He didn't gasp for air; he knew that was just a pointless illusion in this place. Instead he reached for the nearest body and clambered on. He paddled around until he saw a hand sticking out of the mud, looking for something to get a hold on. He grabbed it and hauled Nathan's body out of the mud. Nathan conveyed his thanks before starting to move on to the next body.

This time the pair moved a lot faster for fear of another Dredger attacking. When another grabbed at a body in front of John he swiped at its claws with the fence post. The only reward he got however was a dull knocking sound as wood bounced off bone. The cage crashed down into the mud.

John had an idea. "Nathan the cages are the key. To achieve something you really want sacrifices must be made. The victims are already suffering all we're doing is using their salvation to our advantage. Follow me." John leapt onto the cage and ran along it. Soon the Dredgers began a massacre of the victims that had failed the trial before. Cages began falling left right and centre. 'Shit,' John thought, "Come on we have to get to those gallows before the cages sink." They quickly made their way to the gallows. A cry stopped John in his tracks. He turned around to see one of the cages trying to devour Nathan's leg. Apparently it wasn't content to let its last occupant go until a new one had replaced it. John gave an angry look towards the gallows where the soldiers still beckoned 'You just wait your turn. I'm coming for you.'

He started making his way back to Durant "Hold on Nathan I'm coming man." Nathan was desperately hacking away at the large hands that held a vice like grip on his leg.

Nathan could feel the flesh of his foot falling off in layers, presumably the cages occupant needed it for strength. John saw the problem. The victim that the Dredger had swallowed was too small for the occupant and now it was using Nathan to make up for what it lost. John grabbed the machete off Nathan and lay face down on the cage so that his arms lay either side of it. He kept his head away from the mouth at the back of the cage and started stabbing the occupant through the cage. The thing soon squealed in pain and released Nathan's leg. It was nothing but a limp piece of bone with threads of flesh hanging off it. A chain started to descend from the ceiling.

Nathan saw it "Thanks man. Quickly get up and give me my blade. I have an idea that should make our journey a lot easier." John got up and did so. Once the chain had descended to chest height Nathan grabbed the chain "I'm going to swing over to the gallows then I'll throw the chain back to you. Act quickly as this chain only descended to reconnect to the Dredger as the occupant failed in its escape attempt. Once the chain reattaches itself the Dredger will be hauled back up to attack some other unfortunate soul and you will be tossed into the unforgiving deep."

Gripping his machete with his teeth Durant took the chain in his hands and started to swing towards the gallows. He looked like a pirate when he was swinging. At the last moment he grabbed the sword in one hand and swiped at the punisher who raised the great knife to strike him. He caught the punisher at the side of its neck sending it back a couple of steps. Seeing this he put the sword back into his teeth and reached out for the top beam of the gallows. He grabbed it and heaved himself onto it. He swung the chain back while trying to stay out of the punishers reach. The cage John stood on was starting to sink 'Not going to be at the right length. I'm going to die here.' The chain lowered further and John reached out his hands to grab it. It was swinging wildly but he still caught it. "CLINK" 'What was that?' John looked down to see that although he had caught the chain it had already connected to the Dredger. 'Aww crap!' John waited for the inevitable. Then he had an idea, he ran to the connected end of the cage and sat clutching the chain with his feet dangling over the side.

The Dredger gave a large "SCHLOCK" as it came free of the mud. As it rose to a vertical position John found that his idea had worked, he was now sitting upside down. He quickly righted himself and started swinging the cage towards the gallows. The occupant inside howled as his actions meant that its head was now being bashed against the side of the cage. The hands at the back clawed at the top of the cage in order to grab and devour its attacker. John simply clung to the chain and kept swinging. He got nearer to the gallows but fell just short. It was then that he realised that the chain was ascending again. 'Think quick John. Need a way to get nearer to the gallows without getting yourself killed.' It was then that he noticed that the lance wielding punisher still had its attention focused on him. He knew what to do. He dropped down a bit and dangled his body in front of the mouth for a short time while pinning the large hands to the top of the cage with his feet. The punisher lunged with its lance at him. John pulled himself up at the same instant making the lance pierce the cage's occupant instead. The creature howled as the punisher made an effort to remove the lance. John back flipped and landed on the lance, he lost balance and grabbed the creatures red helmet for leverage. He pulled as hard as he could and threw himself onto the gallows.

The lance wielding punisher now clung to the cage as it rose with its screaming occupant inside. The sword wielding punisher did not notice John's presence as it was completely focused on Nathan.

"Good of you to join us." Nathan called down.

"Quit your whining and get down off that perch. Try and take his arm out on your way down. I'll sort out the rest." A splash was heard behind them, the screaming Dredger had now fallen silent. The lance wielding punisher had fallen into the mud. "Quickly. There's not much time before he comes back. Then our chances of success will be even less than they are now." Nathan nodded and swung his bony leg in front of the creature. The knife came up and Nathan tucked his leg in, feeling the breeze as the knife whistled by his leg, where the nerves were still left. As soon as the knife hit the gallows Nathan dived down onto the creature, grabbing it's arm and slicing it off with his machete.

John then taking the opportunity took the noose and looped it over the punisher's head. "Come on Nathan help me here." Durant, although missing most of his left leg could still walk, however he now walked with a dragging limp. John and Nathan moved together to push the punisher off the gallows. Nathan had a thought and quickly cut the other arm off before going back round and giving the punisher a final shove. It struggled and gave a very strange roar as it died. The sound was similar to that of a warped, high-pitched elephant trumpet. Finally John set his fence post on the gallows and twisted the creature's head round until there was a loud snap. With a final roar, the creature's body went limp.

The two sat down back to back, exhausted. "Well that wasn't too hard. Now what?" John sighed. "CLUMP."

Nathan looked around to see a red point emerging from the mud, "It's not over yet." The creature emerged with a large chunk of its mid section missing, there were also claw marks either side of it.

"Well that should make things easier," John surmised.

Nathan clutched his blade tighter, "Don't underestimate this thing. As long as it moves it's dangerous." John looked between the fence post and the knife; he raised his eyebrow and went to pick up the great knife.

He struggled to get it off the ground "Maybe not then. I'll stick with the post." He retrieved the post and swung it round, bringing the point up to face the punisher who by now was standing to face them. It saw the hanging creature and roared. In no time at all it was charging at John. With no space to fight the thing on the two dodged its attacks as best as they could. It kept making short, sharp lunges at John. He kept swatting the thing's lance away with his post but knew that he couldn't avoid it forever.

He called out to Nathan "Divert its attention get it near the steps and let it go when I give the word." Nathan was not happy 'How the hell do I distract this thing?' He stuck his sword through its chest. The thing struggled wildly, thrusting the lance behind him. 'Oh well. I guess that's the answer to that question.'

Nathan looked in John's direction he was looking closely at the post nearest the second noose, "Now?"

John looked back and nodded "Now." Nathan took the sword out of the creature and it swung its large fist towards him, knocking the sword out of his hand and sending him into the mud again. In desperation Nathan grabbed the bottom of the wooden steps and clung on. The punisher happy that it had dispatched Durant now turned its attention towards McCaw. It sprinted at him with lance pointed towards his heart. He stood still with one hand on the pole holding the noose beam and his eyes closed. He counted silently mouthing the numbers, as the noise of the soldier's boots grew louder. Just at the moment that the lance was about to strike John opened his eyes, grabbed the pole, used it to swing around behind the punisher and kick it in the back. This sent the front point of the pyramid into the noose. John was quick to loosen it and let the rest of the noose slip over the creature's neck. The creature spun around to face him before he could push it off the edge. He kicked its head sending the front point up and exposing its neck. He picked up the fence post again and rammed it through the creature's throat. The force of which sent the creature flying off the gallows and dangling above the muddy waters it was not long before the creature stopped moving.

John quickly dropped the pole, turned around and dashed to help Nathan. The mud seemed to be thickening again and he could just about see the water at the edge becoming solid once again. 'Come on. Come on, we're so close to getting out of this. I'm not leaving you here to suffer now.' Soon he had pulled Nathan out of the mud coughing and spluttering.

They sat on the steps smiling; John spoke first "Its over now right? We can die in peace now can't we?"

Nathan grimaced "No. We still have one thing left to do before we can get out of here. We have to put on the crowns of the righteous to attain an audience with God before we can ever have a chance of leaving." John looked back and to his amazement the bodies of the punishers were gone and all that was left were the red helmets that they were wearing and their weapons.

John looked back at Durant "Aww no. You can't mean we have to put those on. Are you sure there's no other way?"

Durant confirmed it, "No other way."

John sighed "Fine then. Lets get this over with." With heavy hearts the two walked towards the helmets and picked them up.

John looked over "See you on the other side."

Durant nodded "Good luck." They put the helmets on at the same time. Darkness.

John McCaw formerly an officer in the SHPD and also formerly alive was becoming very tired of this darkness in the afterlife thing. Then a new colour was introduced to him. It was a dark crimson red. Through this colour he could see everything around him right down to the tiny keyhole on the door at the other end of the courtyard. He felt better than ever. He picked up the lance. Surprised to find it was as light as a feather in his now steely grip. He wondered just how much this transformation would change him. He started moving forward slowly and it was then he realised he was being drawn towards something. He followed the instinct wondering where it would take him.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed that chapter. Feel free to review.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	11. Chapter 11

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 11: An Inspector Falls

Matthias Gucci leaned against the bonnet of his patrol car. He put a cigarette into his mouth and brought his gold lighter closer to his face in order to try and keep the wind from blowing the small flame out. In one smooth action he flicked the lighter shut and slipped it into his pocket while taking a long drag making a quarter of the cigarette burn to ash in one go. He didn't notice as his concentration was focused on watching for the return of Magee and Cartland. Failing to get anything out of the mad Father Wolf, the rest of the men now had him securely locked up in another car and were now enjoying a relaxing cup of tea, courtesy of a very grateful old woman.

The smoke stung his eyes as he blew it out in a long slow stream. There was a light mist starting to roll in from the forest and carrying with it the shadows of a thousand unidentifiable shadows. Gucci squinted to see a bit better. 'What the…' His train of thought was stopped by a loud exclamation of fear coming from the direction of the forest. The owner of the voice soon appeared, nearly breaking the gate in an effort to escape an unseen evil force. Gucci got up and walked over to him as the man tripped and fell over his own feet.

"Cartland what the hell happened?"

* * *

Walter found himself alone in the living room. He had long since finished his ice cream and wondered what all the noise was about. The blinds were still drawn shut as he was the first person to enter the room and he didn't know how to work them. The room's only source of light was the dim glow of the television. He set the bowl down on the table in the middle of the room and went over to the T.V. to wipe the static off the screen. He loved going up to people after he had wiped the screen and shocking them with a small jolt of electricity. It was harmless fun and really amusing to see them jump when they got shocked.

He tried not to look at the screen too much as the glare hurt his eyes and made him see funny shapes after a while. He finished wiping the screen and started to make for the door into the hallway. The shapes clouded his vision and nearly made him trip over the table. He thought it best to stand still until the shapes went away. As he watched the shapes swirl about in the dimly lit room they started to take form. He blinked in amazement and the shapes disappeared. 'Hold on the shapes are usually still there when I close my eyes.'

He opened his eyes. The shadow was still there. It seemed to be taking the form of a man with a big triangle on his head. He carried a big knife, which he propped up against the wall. The strange man sat down and began to talk to no one in particular. Walter was pretty sure that the man must be blind so he started sneaking over to the door.

The pyramid slowly lowered and pointed directly towards the boy. "Hello Little Walter."

Walter sat on the table in front of the strange creature and started to swing his legs. The boy looked at him. "Who are you?"

The creature laid back. He looked just like Father Wolf at story time.

"I am Red Devil. You can call me Red."

Walter stayed to talk to the strange creature. He looked a bit like a character from a fairy tale. "What do you want with me?"

The creature leant forward and whispered, almost as if he was about to reveal a great secret. "I want to help you wake your mommy."

Walter jumped off the table "Yaaay."

Red leaned back in the chair again. "So I hear that you are to become one of the gatekeepers. Very good. You know that God rewards those that serve Her. Maybe if you do a really good job She will reward you by freeing your mother but that sort of favour would mean that you would have to do a lot of things for her. I'll go talk to her about it and tell you what she says. Meantime you be a good boy and go and burn down whatever Auntie Gillespie tells you to."

Walter watched with a big grin on his face as the creature turned to shadow and slipped into the darkness behind the door. He ran out to find Dahlia and tell her what the creature had said. He found her sleeping in her room and decided to leave her be until she woke up.

* * *

Dahlia was in a strange place. She knew she was dreaming because she was small and her father was leading her by the hand. He said there was something that she needed to see. He showed her over to a chair in the middle of a desert. Upon closer investigation she saw it to be the director's chair. She gasped when the occupant swung the chair around to face her. The appearance of the creature did not disturb her so much as the object that it had set on its lap. It was a large, gore-stained fence post.

"Hello Dahlia. It's good to see you again. Please do not be afraid. I am a dedicated servant, here on God's behalf. She is unhappy at the way things are going. However as always God is not without infinite wisdom. So here is what She wants you to do. You are to burn your child inside the chapel at the time of purification in order to open the final gate. The police will not hinder you as she has already set plans in motion to deal with them. At this very moment the mayor is dying and soon the man investigating this holy place will be no more. She has seen to it that there will be nothing to lead back to the Order. It is vital that this ceremony goes according to plan or else all is lost. She is aware that the mother has somehow tapped into her power and therefore has a plan for you to trap her in the chapel. Do not worry about the child. God's soul will keep her alive. It is the child's pain and anger that God needs to grow strong. Here, take this."

The creature threw a small fragmented pyramid towards her. She caught it in one hand and looked at it in a curious way. "What is it?" The creature started to explain, "That is Flauros and the only hope for you to cut through and momentarily suppress Alessa's power. Here is what you will do…" Dahlia kneeled at the creature's feet and listened as the sands of the dream desert swirled about her.

* * *

Douglas Cartland's day was not improving. He had just spent the last five minutes explaining what had happened to him in the forest. As expected Gucci wore a look of disbelief on his face. All the while the fog became denser and less light shone through the trees. The fog seemed to suck in all form that the forest once carried, making it seem to be teeming with monsters. In the end he knew that if he stayed in Silent Hill much longer then the nameless evil would claim him. He made a decisive move that probably saved his life.

"Mat this place; there's something wrong with it. I'm getting the hell out of here and I suggest you do too before it's too late. I know that it's hard to believe what I have just told you and in the end I'm sad to say that you'll probably have to learn the hard way. My only advice is that you do not wait around here too long. Save yourself while there is still time."

Mat shook his head with a puzzled look. "Man something really spooked you bad out there. It's probably a wild animal. I can't believe that it got Magee and I don't know what happened with his dog but there's probably still a rational explanation for all this."

Douglas saw that there was no talking to Gucci, "Look man I'm getting my boy and then getting the hell out of this place. I'm not saying that you should drop everything and come with me, as you obviously don't believe me. Just be careful OK?"

Gucci promised that he would be as careful as always and told Cartland to go and get some R&R. The wheels of Cartland's patrol car spun as he tore down the drive at speed, the fog at the end engulfing his car. Gucci watched until the red taillights disappeared from view.

Officer Gucci was now faced with a completely different kettle of fish. This call had gone from bad to worse and instead of just bringing in a murder suspect he now was faced with the task of getting the children safely out of the area, as there was obviously something dangerous out there.

"Cup of tea officer?"

Gucci looked down at the haggard complexion of Dahlia Gillespie. He shook his head and muttered thanks anyway. He didn't know how she would take the idea that her home was unsafe and that she and the children would have to be evacuated on top of the whole situation at present. He decided to leave talking to her for a moment and went to call in backup for the evacuation. He sat in the passenger's side, with one leg hanging outside the car. Picking up the radio he sighed, as he knew that this day was far from over.

"Gerry pick up. You there?"

White noise answered him "Krrrrrrrrrszzz Gucci? Th krrrrrz. No sig krrrrrrrz."

Gucci angrily slammed the mike down onto the driver's seat, "Shit!"

He got out of the car and shouted over to a nearby officer "Hey Ed round up the kids. We need them out of here now."

The officer looked puzzled "Sure Matt but why? We didn't find any accomplices."

Matt replied hurriedly as he made his way towards the house to explain the situation to Dahlia. "The area isn't secure. Something got Magee. I'm going to talk to Miss Gillespie and then I'm going to recover the body."

Ed wore a look of shock "Holy shit. What happened to Cartland? Where was he?"

Gucci didn't know what to say, in the end he decided to go with a half-truth "He was there. He got spooked bad. He drove off before he could show me."

Ed frowned "Chicken shit. Glad he's not my partner. You need any help with the body recovery?"

Gucci shook his head and kept walking. "The kids are priority here. I'm taking a shotgun and a short-range radio. If you hear anything get some help. I'll use Morse code since we're getting nothing but static here. Wait for me at the station. If I'm not back after an hour send someone out. I don't want you to contact me while I'm out there in case you give away my position to this psycho. OK?" The officer nodded and started to check the perimeter for any kids out playing.

The floorboards creaked as Gucci went back inside the dark house. He headed towards the kitchen where he knew that he would find the kind Miss Gillespie making cups of tea and coffee for the officers.

She looked in his direction the moment he set foot in the house. "Yes officer? Can I help you?"

Gucci rubbed at the back of his neck. "Uhh maam there's no easy way to say this but I think that we may need to evacuate everyone from this area. There is something in the woods, we have not confirmed what it is yet but it is no longer safe here for you and the children. Just follow Officer Carmichael and keep the kids as calm as possible. I have some other business to attend to. I will see you back at the station shortly where I will arrange a place for you and the children to stay until this investigation is over"

Officer Gucci left Dahlia to help Ed round up the kids and strolled back over to his squad car. He hit the boot before opening it as it was usually quite stiff and didn't have much give. He reached into the small armoury contained inside and picked out a bulletproof vest and a Remington 12-gauge shotgun, the SHPD's standard issue. He slid the weapon into the back holster and checked that his Berretta was still in its shoulder holster. Armed to the teeth Gucci felt more like Rambo then an officer of the law. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before striding out towards the garden gate. The squeal of the gate opening was drowned out by the noise of the chaos that was ensuing around the house. It appeared the children wanted to play a game of tag with Ed and Dahlia. Gucci smiled and walked on through.

Matt walked up the path keeping a sharp eye out for anything unusual. When the house was out of sight he came to the body that Cartland had mentioned. Gucci shook his head, 'Damn what makes people do stuff like this. That Wolf fella is surely gonna fry. Good riddance too.' He looked away from the body as the frozen mask of horror on the child was starting to freak him out. Its eyes wide and bulging. Small holes were taken out of the child's cheeks, underground scavengers no doubt. Mouth wide, exposing yellowing and soil covered teeth. The vision would haunt any man who looked upon it. Gucci was no different. He drew his Beretta out of its holster.

Something moved in the distance. Gucci squinted to see it. He moved slowly forward. There was definitely something out there as he could hear it now. Looking ahead, he failed to see the fallen corpse of Dennis Magee. He stumbled, falling on top of the torso of his dead comrade. He quickly rolled off him. Something was definitely wrong here. He could see every blade of grass clearly, every insect on every plant. The smell almost overpowered him and he felt like everything was more… _real_… for a lack of a better word. He could see a path leading away from the garden that hadn't been there before.

'The killer must have used the drugs from this garden. Some sort of hallucinogen, maybe a steroid as well. In any case he was sure that White Claudia had to factor into this. He had never felt the effects before. It was if every cell in his body was coming to life and pulling him towards something. Whatever that something was it was in that forest. He looked at Magee. 'Sorry buddy I'll come back to you later. Right now I have a psycho junkie to take down. Maybe this path leads to the Claudia fields.' Gucci hopped over the fence and cautiously walked down the dilapidated forest path.

Nothing was hidden from his sight. He could now clearly see the figure in the distance. It looked to be an old Native American Shaman. 'What the hell? This is the big drug lord? Na couldn't be. I'd better call him in for questioning nonetheless.'

Gucci called out to him. "Hey you hold on there. I have a couple of questions for you." The Shaman ignored him and kept moving. Gucci pursued finding that he could move at inhuman speed.

The Shaman turned round with his hands in the air "Back demon. No minion of Samael shall be feeding on my flesh tonight." Gucci had no idea what the man was talking about and kept moving towards him. 'Great he's not a drug lord. Probably a user. He must be tripping.'

Gucci raised his gun and aimed for the man's leg. "Stay where you are. You are under arrest for suspected multiple homicides. You have the right to remain silent anything you do say will be used in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney… What the?"

The Shaman took a hunting dagger and cut himself, spreading the blood drops on the thorny brambles around him. "Danh ym yb dediug eb. Uoy dnammoc I doolb htiw. Uoy ekovni I doolb htiw. Eris."

Gucci cursed into himself, 'Damn it he's tryin to bleed himself to death. Ain't no way he's getting out of this that easy.' Gucci sprinted towards the Shaman with inhuman speed. He was brought to a sudden, wrenching stop when a wall of thorns burst up from the ground in front of him. Confusion engulfed Gucci like a tidal wave engulfs a coastline. 'No this… this can't be happening. This is impossible. How the hell is he doing this?' Sharp pain stabbed at Gucci as the vines tightly wrapped themselves around his body the green stems turning red as Mat's blood was rapidly sucked up by the possessed plants. Finally Gucci was so entangled that he couldn't move an inch.

The Shaman walked slowly up to Gucci. He looked closely at the officer. "How's your soul minion? I hope that your lord will be severely disappointed with you. I hope you suffer. You and your kind have brought so much death. Now it is your turn. I'm going to teach you a lesson in repentance. Until you appease the Gods then your sins shall hold your soul in a rusty cage of pain. Your body will stay here on this plane in a state of rest. It is time for your redemption." The Shaman waved his hand in front of Gucci's face and a choking fit came upon him. The Shaman chanted a mantra as Gucci choked. Mat could feel his heart slowing. Visions of monsters blurred on and off in front of him. His eyes bulged, his skin turned a pale blue and finally with a terrible sense of dread, darkness took him. The Shaman finished chanting and pushed the stiff officer over. It was time to leave him in the place that no one would touch him. With that the Shaman started the process of dragging the man back to the forbidden garden.

* * *

This police investigation was going to be quite the hindrance for Dahlia. She needed to use Wolf's consecrated chapel if this was going to work. She would have to make an emergency call to withdraw the gatekeepers from their posts. Paradise would have to wait a while longer. She was not sure how she was going to call the children back though. Maybe it would be wise to call DeSalvo once they were settled in the new accommodation.

The policeman in the passenger seat turned round to face Dahlia. "We have orders to take you to Balkan Church, downtown where living quarters are being set up for you there." Dahlia smiled back at the officer and thanked him. Walter stirred in his sleep. She was amazed at how enthusiastic he had been to become a gatekeeper after that bowl of ice cream. She resumed looking out of the window. She could see things moving in the forest as they passed.

Walter slept soundly, dreaming of his past and what the future could hold. He walked down the warm, cream plaster corridor of his home. He passed a door that read "301". So nearly there. He could feel the warmth of his mothers love reaching out to him. He stopped and looked up at the tarnished gold numbers, nailed into the cracked white, wooden door.

"Come in Walter."

Walter smiled. He was home.

The door opened slowly and little Walter shielded his eyes as a glaring light met him. He was paralysed. Not with fear though. He would never feel fear in his own home. This was a new type of power. He looked at his feet; they were stuck to the floorboards. A shadow fell across the doorway. Walter looked up to see Red.

"Help me Red. I want my Mommy. I want to see her so bad."

The monster tilted his head as if he looked down at the child. "Don't worry Walter. I'll help you. Here take this." He handed the child a spoon.

Walter looked puzzled. "What does this do? Is it magic?"

An amused voice came from under the massive red helmet. "You could say that. Look into its reflection and you'll be fine."

Walter did so and everything was as Red said it would be.

The child eagerly entered the room backwards. He made his way towards the bedroom. A golden light came from there to fill the hallway. Walter stopped. Something was wrong. He heard crying. Walter cried out, his voice carrying a worried edge to it, "Mom? Is that you?"

A harsh plea came from the bedroom, "Help me Walter. Please."

Walter ran to the bedroom door. He stretched to reach the brassy knob and turned. He was nearly blinded by the harsh golden light again. 'Stupid. Forgot the spoon.' He started to cry when he saw his birthplace in the spoon.

In the middle of the room there was a golden angel, with the most beautiful and loving face that Walter had ever seen. "Mom." He yelled.

When she saw him golden tears dripped onto the wooden floorboards. "Oh Walter, my child. It is you. Wait. You are young…too young. You cannot help me yet."

Walter looked around with the spoon and saw what it was that she needed help with. She was bound with chains and heavy locks to a cross with a strange, scary man on it. Bright candles surrounded her, with a medallion resting at the bottom of each one. It looked like the chains were eating into her skin. They were held in place by a large group of people. Walter used his left hand to help him count. "nineteen, twenty, twenty one."

The angel spoke again. "You be a good boy and listen to Red. Come back and help me when you are older. Red will teach you how to free me later. Bye bye baby." With that the door slammed to his back.

Red met him outside room 302. "Come on Walter. Its time to go." The sound of static echoed through the corridor. Walter opened his eyes to find himself in a church. Dahlia looked over at him.

"Sweet dreams?"

Walter nodded with a big grin on his face.

* * *

Ed Carmichael cursed under his breath about the radio. 'Why does this damn thing never work when you need it the most. There was a massive trail of dust left behind as he exited the lane to Wish House for what he hoped was the last time. He sighed and tried the raidio again as he sped towards the town centre.

"Hello this is car 33. You read me control?"

"_Loud and clear Ed what's your status over?"_

Ed's voice sounded panicked and slightly hoarse as he had wretched all he could. "Officers down. Repeat officers down. Request that a perimeter be set up around the area of Wish House. I'm bringing the dead back to Seals. You can tell him that the bodies wouldn't remain in tact if I left them for the crime scene folks. They will have to come to their own conclusions. If anyone is going into the garden tell them to bring a breather or something. Theres some sort of hallucinogen in the air. Extreme caution is advised. Over."

"_What? Thats insane. __Who is it Ed? Its not Magee is it? I heard some crazy talk from Cartland on his way out."_

Ed sighed. "It's a lot worse than that. An unknown minor, McCaw, Magee, Gucci and Magee's dog are all dead."

_The officer in control put her hand to her face and whispered a soft "Christ." _

Ed put the receiver to his mouth again. "We have a sociopath on our hands. The things that scumbag did to them." His voice trailed away as a traumatic memory of going back and discovering them played over in his mind.

"I want all officers armed with shotguns at the very least. The way this psycho is pumped with adrenaline at the minute the Berettas will only make him angry unless someone gets off a lucky shot. I want no chances taken with this one. We are operating on shoot to kill policy now and I want him taken down with the first shot. I do not want to lose another person out of this. Tell Seals that he has a busy night ahead of him. I want to see the reports as soon as he is finished. Over."

"_Roger. See you back at the station."_

"Roger that control, over and out."

* * *

Later at the SHPD the dim light of a study lamp shone over Ed Carmichael as he pored over the first report to hit his desk. Seals was amazed that a police operation to find one man could go so badly. Ed admitted that he didn't know either but he was sure as hell going to find out. Looking at the first report he was surprised at the cause of death to say the least.

"_Officer Gucci unlikely to be murdered. Died of natural causes. However medical records show that Officer Gucci had no prior symptoms of heart disease. There was a slight trace of an unknown species of pollen found in his lungs and nasal passages. In conclusion it is my professional opinion that Officer Gucci died of a massive heart attack possibly caused by and certainly quickened by the pollen of said unknown species of flora. More detailed studies will be conducted when a sample of the plant is collected."_

Ed leaned back in his chair and sighed with exhaustion and frustration. He rubbed his tired eyes. Tonight was definitely going to be a long one.

* * *

In the ministers room of Balkan Church Dahlia Gillespie hunched over the ministers desk, cradling the phone close to her ear, afraid of any listeners. "Hello? DeSalvo? We have a problem. I need you to create a rather large diversion. Paradise is so close, we can't afford to be held back now. I think it's time that we used some of the young disciples."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	12. Chapter 12

Ok lots going on in this one. Shouldnt be too hard to follow if you have watched a few Tarantino movies haha.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 12: Gears of the Ancients

Lenny Jenkins fumbled with the red chalk in his hands. There wasn't much light in the basement of Midwich Elementary School. He slowly traced out strange shapes and symbols with his hands still slightly shaking. He had to do this as his life depended on it. He checked that he still had the paper with the pattern in his pocket for the twentieth time. He smiled as his fingers felt the reassuring touch of its crinkly edges. He continued to draw on the floor hoping to God he would be finished before the siren sounded. He was nearly finished. It was nearly time.

* * *

Alessa was in a much better mood; even if she had been called witch again. It still didn't spoil her day. Mr Ken Gordon was letting Dahlia, Claudia, Vincent and herself stay in his house on Levin Street until everything had blown over. There was even a doghouse for Scamp. Mr Gordon's dog Pertwee was dead a while back thanks to a sick prank by some students drunk out of their minds after coming back from a basketball game. That one made the paper and it stayed with Alessa when she saw it. She felt sorry for Mr Gordon and was happy for him when he got to play with Scamp as she was sure he missed having a dog around. He was even good enough to fix up Pertwees old house for him. Alessa was happy too as all this moving about seemed to make Scamp anxious and he was happy to play about in the fresh air again. Along with fixing it up he put a key hook and spare key inside in case one of the kids needed to go home early and Dahlia was out.

* * *

"Alessa."

She broke out of her daydream. "Sorry Sir."

Mr Gordon coughed. "I guess I shall have to repeat the question. What is sometimes referred to as sages water?"

Alessa frowned in concentration. "Hydrochloric acid?"

Mr Gordon was surprised that she got it right. "Correct. Well done. Now you Katie…" Alessa drifted off again.

* * *

She was just overwhelmed by Mr Gordon's kindness and not for the first time an important question popped into her head. 'What kind of loving God would want her to hurt all these people?'

Claudia was still in Alchemilla's paediatrics ward but she was on the mend. Dr Kaufmann was keeping in touch to let them know how she was doing. He warned that some brain damage might be a result of the head wounds but he was hopeful that she would make a near if not a full recovery. He assured them that she was in good hands.

It always impressed Alessa how he always took care of the kids at Wish House on top of his busy job, even though he was the hospital's Director. Maybe he stayed there when he was a kid. Alessa didn't know but when it mattered most the Doctor always came back to look after them. When she asked him why he told her he saw them as an investment for the future and that they would grow up to be really important people that would keep the town in order. He said he would look after them until them. Alessa always thought he was hiding something and that there was more to it but she decided to drop the subject as he didn't seem in the mood to be pressed further on the matter. The last thing he said to Dahlia and Alessa was that he was going to sort out Leonard for good. Dahlia looked relieved to hear it and thanked him before he went.

Alessa thought back to the events after the attack.

* * *

It was funny that it took Claudia to be put in hospital before Dahlia and she could have a proper bonding moment. Ever since she found out about her 'destiny' things between her and her mother had been a little tense. After making sure Claudia was stable at the hospital Dahlia and Alessa had gone to the shopping district to take Scamp to the vets. Alessa saw the streets bustling with people. Every time they came to this part of the town Alessa was amazed to see so many people in the area. Dahlia took a left off Koontz Street and onto Simmons Street towards the shopping centre.

"Where are we going Mum? The vet isn't this way and Scamp doesn't look too good."

"The vets can't help Scamp now. We're headed for the Green Lion."

Alessa was puzzled. "What is in your shop? A bunch of antiques can't help us."

Dahlia cut in. "Just because something looks old doesn't mean it is not useful. I happen to have something that will be of great use to us."

"What?"

"A black cup that can bring spirits to bodies so that they heal rapidly and makes them live forever as long as they don't get blown to bits."

"You mean?"

"Yes child. The Obsidian Goblet."

"I thought that was just a story that Father Wolf told us."

Dahlia laughed softly. "No dear child. It is as real as the hair on your head. The only catch is that we need a sacrifice first because the spirit trapped inside him now is one of God's servants and She has other uses for him. We will prepare for the ceremony today and I will perform the sacred rights tomorrow while you are at school so he will be good as new when you come back. Meet me at the church tomorrow and you can play with him in no time."

The next day was one of the best days Alessa had. Mr Gordon offered to take them in while the investigation at Wish House continued. Not only that, but Scamp was all better. He was like a new pup when Dahlia let him pad his way over to Alessa. Still there was something different about him that Alessa couldn't quite put her finger on...

* * *

"Alessa. Are you still with us?"

Her head snapped back up to face Mr Gordon. He shook his head.

"Not getting enough rest at home I see. Well a sleeping child can learn nothing from me. Go and see the nurse. Tell her I said to give you some rocket fuel then get back here quickly. OK?"

Alessa yawned then nodded. She pushed the wooden chair out and slipped between the desks littered with carvings of various people being there and school romances of the day written inside big hearts. It was funny Alessa always thought that an arrow representing a heart should represent pain instead of love. She shook her head to wake up a bit more. She hadn't been feeling herself lately and the problems at Wish House weren't helping her concentration levels either.

* * *

Kaufmann paced the brown carpet of the small interview room.

"Hello Leonard. It's Michael from the hospital. Are you with us?" The vacant stare returned by the priest suggested that he was still locked within himself. Ed Carmichael watched keenly, looking for any sign of life in Father Wolf's dead eyes. He didn't find any.

"It's no use Doctor. According to the arresting officers he has been like this since he left the orphanage.

Kaufmann looked thoughtful. "I have an idea. Would you give me a minute to speak with him alone?" Ed nodded and made his way to the recording room. Kaufmann smiled when the door was locked. He turned to face the dishevelled Father Wolf; straightening his tie as he did. Kaufmann started muttering in an ancient tongue.

"Dnecsed ruomalg eht, desolc eb srennis eht fo srae eht tel. Eris." He paused for a couple of seconds before speaking to Wolf. "Ok we can speak freely now. The sinners will see me trying and failing to get through to you. What happened Leonard?"

Wolf sighed and put his head in his hands. "It's her. That witch. She is betraying us all."

Kaufmann snarled, "She wasn't found trying to beat her child to death."

Wolf went on the defensive. "I was praying. They know not to disturb me when I am praying."

"Did you not think to lock the door?"

"Of course I did but that witch gave them their own keys didn't she."

Kaufmanns voice was still angry. He wasn't sure if he could believe what he was hearing. "I cannot believe that you are providing me with such weak excuses. It doesn't matter which way you spin this. There is no way you will get out of jail time although luckily I can fix that. You are useless to us. Your time with the Order is finished. We will speak in more detail during our sessions at Brookhaven. I still take care of the more violent cases there. I think you'll fit right in." Kaufmann clicked his fingers and the spell dissipated.

The Doctor left the dim little room to the sound of Leonard screaming in disbelief and protest. Officer Carmichael approached him as he closed the door.

"What did you say to him to make him go crazy like that Doc?"

Kaufmann responded in mock surprise. "Didn't you hear me?"

Ed proceeded to scratch the back of his head. "Well. Y'see this is kind of embarrassing but our equipment malfunctioned a short time after you started talking to him."

Kaufmann sighed. "If you must know I was trying to get to the bottom of whether he is sane or not. From what I can tell he seems to be suffering from mild Claudia poisoning. Being a psychotropic drug he is still under the impression that he is on a holy mission and is surrounded by enemies. I believe that this man needs a different kind of environment to hold him rather than here or prison. I am recommending that he be transferred to Brookhaven for containment and study."

Officer Carmichael gave a long whistle sounding like a bombshell dropping. "Well we did find a large amount of the drug on the premises. I guess you know best Doc. I'll start organising the transfer. I reckon this one will need solitary confinement."

Kaufmann nodded. "Naturally. If it's all the same to you officer I'd like to get back now. The running of a hospital doesn't really stop. Even for police investigations."

"Of course Doctor. Thank you for coming down. I take it you'll be available if we need your help again."

"As always. Goodbye Officer."

"See ya Doc." Kaufmann left the station with a scowl on his face. 'My my, Dahlia Gillespie what have you been up to I wonder.'

* * *

After the transfer of the prisoner Ed Carmichael got a sharp feeling in his gut and it was not one he welcomed. He looked at the other officers in the room and gestured towards Wolf. "Watch him. I don't trust what just happened."

The two present shook they're heads. "You going paranoid on us? Don't tell me Lorna's got to you."

"Haha. I'm not that far gone but indulge me. Something just isn't right here."

"Nothing has been right in this town for some time. Ever since the local crazy's started acting up."

Carmichael nodded. He knew it too. Something big was heading for the town and when it hit there would be no escaping its reach. He left the station, got into his patrol car and started searching for the cigarette lighter. He knew he had dropped it under the seat earlier. Some of the back roads made holding onto the steering wheel hard enough never mind trying to light a cigarette. He felt along the floor touching all sorts of surfaces from the rubber of the car mat to a stray jelly bean. It was a couple of minutes blindly groping before his fingers hit cold metal. Just when he had a good grip on it the static of radio flared up.

"Car 33 pick up. Ed? You there? Pick up if you are. This might be something you oughta look into."

Ed cursed before slamming the lighter home. "Yeah I'm here dispatch. What's up Lorna? They find that Wish House killer yet?"

"That's a negative. We got bigger problems then that at the moment."

"What? That would have to be one major problem. What is it?"

"Numerous reports of an unidentified symbol appearing in densely populated areas. It looks like some sort of sign. I think a fanatical unit of terrorists or something may be making a move."

"To do what exactly? I doubt a terrorist organisation would have any business with a small town like ours. You read way too many tabloids. It's probably just some kids playing a prank to freak people out. Mind you… What does it look like? Any descriptions?" Lorna gave Ed what she had so far. His eyes widened. "I saw something like that on one of the walls at Wish House. We can't do anything about this until we know what it all points towards. Send some officers to investigate and take pictures. Tell them to be very cautious. I don't want any more deaths because of this place."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to have another talk with the priest. I think he knows more then he's letting on. Hopefully he's come down by now."

"Roger that. Be careful Ed."

"Will do Lorna. Over and out."

* * *

Small, grubby hands fumbled with a lighter as Howard Stein stared into the darkness of the old coal mine he had been assigned to. Apparently the coal veins ran under the whole town. By now the gatekeepers had drawn their symbols. It was important that they wouldn't be linked to the fires that would start as this stage was one of the most fragile in the prophecy. He couldn't help but feel that something stared back at him from the darkness. Something with a ravenous hunger. He flicked the lighter a couple of times just to make sure there were no monsters about. Reassured that there weren't Howard set about securing the rope ladder that he had been given before he left the prison. He made a constant effort to ignore the wind which was starting to scare him stiff with the howls it made as it moved around the tunnel entrance. The rope was old but it felt quite rough as he fed it down through his hand. The wooden slats click clacked as they bumped against the stone.

Howard carefully put his hands onto the clammy stones of the mines edge and lowered himself onto the ladder. He was careful as he descended. The old elevator had fallen and the remains of the cables snapped and whipped about in the wind. If one of them reached him he knew that it would cut through his flesh. Maybe even his bone. The slow descent continued while the wind picked up. Howard started moving a little faster for fear that a thunder storm was starting up. A drop of rain landed on his nose right on cue affirming his fears. Soon it was an outright downpour. He slipped on a rung and clung on for dear life wriggling like a worm on a hook. He eventually reached the bottom after regaining his composure. He heard a cracking sound and looked up to see that something had caused the rope on the right side to break.

Despair set in on Howard as he realised that this was probably going to be a one way trip. He felt along the walls until he found a spot that was relatively dry. He took the lighter out of his pocket again and flicked it on. The darkness inside the mine was doing a good job of swallowing most of the light that the flame gave out. Something glinted ahead in the darkness off to the right. He carefully made his way towards it. It was definitely a light of some sort. When he got close enough he could see that it was his light reflecting off the wall. The wall seemed to be covered in a silver liquid that was engrained into the porous cavities that covered this part of the cavern. This is what Howard had been looking for. He brought out a red chalk from his pocket and started to draw. He wondered if anyone would realise what the gateways were truly for.

* * *

Dahlia dusted red chalk off her fingers. It had been a long day. First getting Alessa to school then visiting Claudia. She had barely enough time to draw her symbols at her shop and the supermarket. The mall cops were watching her a little too closely so she had to be quick and discreet. By now the fires would have started at the mine and possibly the lighthouse. She needed more time to make it to the school. She closed the door to the Green Lion and made her way to Midwich Elementary.

Sirens could be heard in the distance and sure enough when she got to the school everyone was out and the fire alarm was ringing. Alessa ran to her.

"Mum, mum its awful."

"What happened child?"

"There's a fire in the boiler room. Mr Gordon said he heard someone down there and went after them but he still hasn't come back out. He…he…" She burst into tears.

Dahlia patted her on the back. "There, there. I'm sure he will be ok. The firemen are on their way." Although it was good to have the reassurance Alessa was not so sure. The sound of sirens could be heard. Alessa looked to see if the fire brigade were close but all she saw were plumes of smoke rising up from different places in the town. 'They must be busy. Wonder what's happening?' Dahlia was thankful that Alessa hadn't been informed of this part of the ritual in case she realised what was going to happen. 'Maybe this would be easy after all' she thought to herself.

* * *

Andrew De Salvo watched the tower turning as yet another formless grey child was thrown down the corpse chute. Such a shame the secret prisons budget didn't cover the maintenance of doors. Yet they still afforded the luxury of the torture chamber below. Oh well. At least the remaining inmates will have some meat in their bowl of grey crap tomorrow. Not that most of them would appreciate it as their brains were turning to pulp in this place. The plan to release the gatekeepers had been delayed too long in Andrew's opinion and the children had suffered for it. He didn't like bringing in new recruits. It was risky and the police were starting to sniff around Wish House too frequently for his liking. He hoped the ritual would deliver the desired result or it may be the end for them all soon.

There was a knock on the door. DeSalvo peeked through the eyehole. It was one of the obnoxious toads that guarded the place and a recent recruit.

"Mr DeSalvo its Carl. I brought the girl as requested."

"Fine. Bring her in then you may leave us." Carl did so then left as quick as possible as Mr DeSalvo gave him the creeps.

Andrew took a moment to look at the girl. She had a vacant look on her grubby face. She had tatty blonde hair with what could only be described as a rat tail as it was too short to be called a pony tail. He had been told that she had spent a good amount of time rocking in the corner of her cell and chewing her pony tail. The near total mental breakdown made the reprogramming that much easier. You could tell she used to be pretty once but could only be called a pale shell in tattered rags now. She wore a grey uniform same as many of the others. The guards hadn't even taken the time to clean the bloodstains out of this one properly. DeSalvo wondered how this poor wretch hadn't ended it all already. He stood up to address her.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Warden DeSalvo."

"Good and what is your name?"

"Nichola Bennett."

"Where were you born?"

"Brahms."

"No child I mean where were you born again?"

"In the place of the silent spirits. With the lake as my witness and the Mother Stone my Guardian."

"Good child. I had you brought here because God has told me you are to serve a special purpose. You are to find and follow this woman. I want you to observe her and if she brings this child into the basement of Wish House I want you to burn it to the ground. Leave no trace of your being there. This will ensure that paradise shall be brought about and a special place shall be saved for you there. Here take this photograph with you. Carl will see to your clothing and travel. Now go."

The girl took the photograph of Dahlia and Alessa Gillespie and left without a word. Andrew DeSalvo watched as she closed the door behind her like an automaton. He never ceased to wonder at the results of the prison. This was the best one yet. Andrew believed in being thorough and he knew the weakness of mothers all too well. After all if his mother had been stronger she would have lived. He smiled content in the knowledge that paradise was all but a flame away.

* * *

Howard Stein was paralysed with fear and wonder. Perhaps it was just the smoke but the tunnels seemed to be warping as if something was trying to break through. The loud crunching sound that followed confirmed this. The tunnel shook with the next crunch; sending Howard sprawling. It also shook him out of his paralysis. He ran for the ladder.

"Please don't break." He carefully climbed the rope ladder, trying to keep both hands on the rungs. This was not easy as one side was limp. The smoke choked the air out of him and made it impossible to see. He got knocked against the wall and fell after another tremor. He got up dizzily and groped blindly for the ladder. The only visible thing was the glow from the fire. He slowly started to feel his way along the wall in the desperate hope that there was another exit tunnel nearby.

When he felt the smooth entrance of a small tunnel he thanked God and quickly crawled in. The ground started trembling again and Howard was bounced around the tunnel. He felt a breeze. 'Must be near the exit'. Then he heard the growling. Howard started to crawl a lot faster as he realised there was something in the tunnel with him. It wasn't long before he saw a glow of orange light ahead.

"No heat so it's not fire. At least not one that I started. Maybe it's somewhere else in the town." Then he saw it and was extremely confused. The shores of Toluca lake were burning and it was a terrifying site from his perch half way up the cliff. A lighthouse shone in the darkness illuminating shapes he rather he had not seen. This was not the Silent Hill he knew and a lot worse then what he imagined the promised paradise to look like. 'Perhaps the fire is still purifying this place'. He had very little time to ponder as a long shiny tongue grasped his ankle and dragged him screaming into the cave.

"Nooo…." His dying breath was cut short by a mass of teeth closing in on him. Crunch.

* * *

Well there goes that disciple. More coming as soon as I write it. Things may slow down a bit as I haven't finished writing this story yet. Hope you enjoyed it. Please review. Thanks for the reviews so far.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	13. Chapter 13

I'm surprised it didn't take longer to get this up. It will be a while before the next one is typed as I am still writing it but stick with it. There shouldn't be too many more chapters left. Lots of action in this one. Also be warned that it is long.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 13: Smoke and Mirrors

Mark Shepherd wiped the sweat from his brow. He had served with the Silent Hill Fire Department for seven years now and in that time the worst fire he had dealt with was the old Lakeview Hotel. This was worse. He didn't know how the fire started at Midwich Elementary but he was damned if there were going to be any more child casualties on his watch. He had already seen one too many and their faces would haunt him to his grave.

When he initially arrived at the scene it was organised chaos. The teachers were doing the best they could; and for the most part had the kids under control but there was always that look of barely controlled panic on their faces. Kids picked up on that and when the adults were scared then the children knew it was serious.

The headmaster rushed over to him. "Thank God you're here. Most of us are out but there are a few kids and one member of staff unaccounted for."

"Any idea where in the building they might be?" Mark asked pointedly.

"I know where two may have gone. One of the classrooms on the first floor." He produced a fire escape plan of the school and pointed to where he was talking about. "Here. The school mascot is kept here. He's a rabbit. Kid's named him Robbie after that cartoon character. Anyway Billy and Kerry Oleson were especially attached to him and I can't see them as being checked off the role book. We're also missing Thomas Harrison, Raymond Bradbury and George Martin. Oh no wait Ray is off sick. Sorry the S was smudged. So just Billy, Kerry, Thomas and George to find. One of our staff went in to look for them but hasn't returned either. A Mr Kenneth Gordon. Please help them. I'll get the kids back on their way home."

"Thanks for the help. I'd say that's a good idea. I'll talk to Officer Radcheck over there. He can keep you updated on the situation." With that Mark quickly got back to Officer Radcheck and relayed the details. With the truck team busy hooking up the rigs there were only two people left to go in. Shepherd and Higgins grabbed axes and halligans before they charged inside to find survivors. The rest of the team started working on the fire itself. Mark prayed that more trucks arrived soon or this would get out of control fast. They had already announced that today broke the official record for the most number of calls made to the department in one day and that figure included hoaxes. All that meant is that it was going to be a long day and not everyone would necessarily make it to see tomorrow.

Mark swore. "Dammit. When will they learn that running with teams of three and three doesn't work? Think they will ever get the message that its lives at risk here not just a pay cut in some councilman's wages?"

Dean Higgins grimaced as he looked up and down the corridor. "Not likely unless the fire comes to their own bloody doorstep. Then it turns into a political crusade that's just a song and dance to get votes not secure money for public services. Not only that but they waste even more money with their pointless glad handing antics."

"That's a point." He sighed. "Forget about it for now. We have to get these people out quickly and safely. How do you want to proceed? Work top floor down?"

Higgins nodded. The entrance wasn't too bad at the minute although the fire was spreading. Smoke belched from the right just at the stairs.

Mark started yelling. "Fire department. Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?" The scream of a child sent the pair running up the flights of stairs at top speed. Higgins nearly jumped out of his skin when a black cat ran past them with a white rabbit hanging limp in its mouth. Two kids nearly ran into them.

"Quickly. Get the bugger. It headed for the locker room. Its dead if I get it."

Higgins grabbed the two by their collars. "Stop right there. Didn't you two hear the alarms?"

"We came back for Robbie"

"Well he's gone now. Time to get out of here. What are your names?"

"Billy."

"Kerry."

Higgins nodded. "Ok then we're going to get you out of here safely. Follow me."

Mark looked down the staircase. Smoke was belching steadily from the floor below. "Higgins I'm not sure that way is safe anymore. There's another staircase at the other side of the building."

"Right. You get these two out then. I'm going to have a quick sweep up here for the other two."

"No hero stuff."

"Yeah. Yeah. Thanks Mom. I know the drill. Just get them out and come help me again."

"Will do." Shepherd led the kids past the class rooms and headed for the stairs at the other end of the building. When he reached the ground floor again the fire had started to spread more rapidly, giving the corridor an orange glow that he was all too familiar with. He told the Olesons to stay put at the stairs. He ran over to the doors that would lead to the exit corridor. He ran the back of his hand over them. They were very warm. The fire was spreading quicker than he had thought it would. A creaking door behind him nearly had him jump out of his skin. It was another kid.

"Who are you?"

"Thomas. Oh man is this for real?"

"Are you stupid kid? Of course it's real. Take a look around. What were you doing anyway? This place has been going up in smoke for a good while." A small explosion and the sound of something ceramic smashing into pieces answered his question. "Blowing up toilets while a fire goes off. I was right kid you are stupid. You two over at the stairs come here."

The Olesons ran over. They were starting to panic. "What's wrong? Why can't we get out?"

Mark tried reassuring them. "We can. Just not out the door. We'll go out the window." He tried opening the door nearest him into the teacher's room. It was locked.

"Stand back kids." He took out his halligan and started bashing just inside the door frame to make a gap. He then wedged the pick side into the gap and pried at the door until he knew it was weak enough to give way. With a solid bash around the lock area he forced his way in. they ran into the room where he opened the window and helped them get out one by one.

Almost immediately one of the teachers grabbed Thomas by the ear.

"Alright Harrison I've been told you were the last one seen with George. Where is he?"

Thomas winced. "In his locker."

Marks eyes narrowed. "You little shit. You knew and didn't say? I should have left you in there. Congratulations kid you just might have committed your first murder. Hope that's something you can live with." The look on the child's face told Shepherd that it wasn't. He was glad that Thomas was scared as it might be something the little brat needed.

Mark picked up his radio. "Higgins you still on the first floor?"

Static crackled before and answer came through. "Yeah. I've covered the east and north corridors. Just the other two to go."

"What about the south corridor? Specifically the locker room."

"Couldn't get in. Something was blocking the doors. Working my way round to it."

"Shit. I'm coming back in. Head there now. I've been told the last kid is in there. After that it's just the teacher to worry about."

"Copy that. On my way out."

Shepherd saw there was no way of getting in the main entrance even with the truck crew pouring water over it. He climbed back in through the window only to hear something crashing through the ceiling nearby. He liked his chances less and less. He kept thinking what he would do if it was his wife and child trapped in there. Cheryl was seven turning eight in a week. Or would have been if it hadn't been for the accident. He couldn't even look at his wife anymore. Lynette lay in a vegetative state in Alchemilla. She smiled sometimes but he knew it was just the pain relief kicking in.

'Can't think about that now' he thought. He ran as fast as he could up the stairs and headed for the locker room. He heard Higgens forcing the lockers open. Then he heard a sound he dreaded. A sucking sound followed by a roar. The door to the music room was taken off its hinges as the windows smashed and a backdraft blew it into the hall knocking him violently into the wall. Darkness took him.

* * *

He woke up disoriented and confused. There was no sign of a fire. No sign anything had gone wrong for that matter. The last thing he could remember was the door of the music room being introduced to his face Saturday night wrestling style. "Am I dead? If so where is everyone and what the hell am I still in school for?"

"I can answer that but you won't like it."

He nearly jumped when he heard the voice behind him. It was a girl not much older than Cheryl would have been. She had brown hair, sad eyes, faded bruises and a blue school uniform.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Alessa. What's your name?"

"Mark. Mark Shepherd. Are you dead too?"

"I thought I was but I'm not sure I can die. As for you I think it's up to you if you are dead. Do you feel dead?"

"No. I feel like I was hit by a train."

"Then you're not dead. At least not here anyway."

"Where is here?"

"School dummy."

"I know it's a school but the last one I was in was on fire."

A glint of fear appeared in Alessa's eyes. "Fire…Yes I remember. The whole town. Mother brought me to Wish House so I'd be safe but she…"

* * *

Alessa cast her mind back to earlier that afternoon. Dahlia had rushed her to Wish house to get her away from the fires. Alessa was scared. Her fear made her feel funny like her power was growing but it also made her weak as if something inside her was feeding off that energy. Dahlia seemed lost in deep thought the whole way. Alessa broke the silence.

"Will Claudia and Mr Gordon be ok? Where's Scamp?"

"Scamp is safe as well as your sister. I'm going back for them after I have made sure you are ok. I'm sure Mr Gordon will be fine. We saw the fire trucks on their way there didn't we?"

Alessa nodded. "I suppose so." The rest of the journey was travelled in silence.

Dahlia rushed her inside the house. As soon as the door was closed she turned and spoke. "You can feel Him can't you?"

"What?"

"You can feel God being born. Your powers are growing. I can sense it."

"I'm scared Mummy. I don't know how to stop it. It hurts. I know what you think I should be but I'm just plain scared and I want it to stop."

A strange gleam came over Dahlia's eyes that could only be described as a type of madness. "I could take some of the burden from you if you want. Come downstairs with me and I'll help you. We will pray to God together for strength."

Alessa didn't trust the look on her mother's face. "No. I don't want to go down there."

Dahlia wasn't taking no for an answer. "Come on. Come on!"

"No. No I don't want to."

"Do as Mommy tells you now. I just want you to lend me a teeny bit of your power that's all."

Alessa was getting frightened and it was drawing more energy out of her. "No! I don't want to do it."

Dahlia dragged her a bit closer to the door. "It will make everyone happy…and it's for your own good too."

Alessa didn't believe that for a second but decided to change tactics. "No! Mommy I just want to be with you. Just us. Please understand."

Dahlia seemed defeated for a moment. "You really mean it…yes I see. Maybe Mommy has been wrong."

Alessa didn't know what Dahlia was up to. "Mommy?"

Dahlia rubbed her thumb along the Flauros artefact in her pocket. Her eyes lit up. "Why didn't I see this before? There's no reason to wait. Herein lies the mothers womb. To obtain the power to create life. I could have done it all myself."

"Mommy?"

Dahlia opened the door to Reverend Wolf's private alter room. "I wasted so much time nurturing you. It's time you gave me something back." With that she threw Alessa down the stairs. The force of the impact knocked her out.

* * *

What Alessa didn't see was a ragged girl in an old school uniform who looked like she hadn't been fed in years creeping through the forest with pale features and a face set with a grim determination that would have unsettled the bravest of souls. Nichola Bennett smiled with thin cracked lips as Wish House came into view. The Gillespie car was there just as was foretold. She picked her way through the web of police tape. A bit touched her and conjured up an image of someone. Someone she knew should have been close and very precious to her but she couldn't remember their face. Just beautiful blonde hair like the sun. She twirled her own hair remembering it used to be just as pretty. She was sad that she had lost her sunshine.

She shook her head. She had to focus. This would all be over soon. She could enjoy the bliss of paradise and never have to go back to that horrible place again. The turning prison with so much blood and screaming. She had to become like a stone just to survive. No. No going back there no matter what. She inhaled the smell of petrol from the small can she carried. It smelled like freedom. She watched the woman go downstairs after pushing her daughter. The Gillespie woman was so loud it made it easy for Nichola to douse the floorboards around the house.

When she finished she stood outside and took out a match and sang a quiet "Happy Birthday to you." Once the song ended she dropped the match and ran through the forest towards the road where Carl should have been waiting to pick her up. She looked back for a second to make sure the blaze had spread. To her delight a dark pillar of smoke was rising to the clouds. A loud horn blared and she squealed as a large eighteen wheeler nearly ran her over. She ducked back into the forest so she wouldn't be seen by anyone else. When Carl didn't show up she decided to find her own way home. The town was alive with the sound of sirens. They made her smile. If only she could remember why…

* * *

Mark looked down at the ground not really knowing what to say or do. After telling her story Alessa fainted. It looked like the trauma of the memory took a lot out of her. He gently shook her.

"Hey kid. Get up. I'm not sure this place is the safest building to lie down in. you may be concussed. Try and keep your mind active. What happened when you woke up? How did you get out of the house?"

Alessa was groggy. "I'm not sure. I remember seeing Mum running out of the room shrieking and coughing. Then I passed out only to wake up again but this time I was on fire. It was the worst pain I have ever known. I can't describe how angry and frightened I was. My body literally felt like splitting in two. Something bright left my body and travelled out of the house. I can feel it calling to me but I don't know where it went. It can't have been God and I don't think it was my soul because I'm still here. A nice man with a trucker cap came. He picked me up and carried me out. He nearly died trying to save me. I can't really remember what happened next but I lost something in that house and I feel like something's missing. Like I'm having an out of body experience."

Mark's face brightened. "Maybe that's what happened to us. Although that wouldn't be good as my real body might be burning right now. Let's hope my buddy dragged me out."

Alessa was staring at the wall intently. She shook her head. "This is weird. I can hear voices."

"Must be from the conscious world. You might be in a hospital. What are they saying?"

Alessa looked panicked. "It's Mommy. She's there with me. She's saying everything is going according to plan."

"That's dark."

"Shh there's another man saying half a soul is lost and something about a seed lying dormant. That must be my soul he's talking about. How do they know about that? I can hear Dr Kaufmann now. He sounds pissed off. He's enraged that something won't work and it wasn't part of the agreement. Mum is saying it can be fixed with a spell and that the soul is sure to come back. Dr Kaufmann is complaining that it will take time."

Mark whistled. "I won't even pretend to know what you're involved in kid but it sounds like you're in a world of messed up trouble. I have to get you out of here and away from these lunatics. Do you know where your body is?"

Alessas face brightened after a moment of deep thought. "Alchemilla. It has to be. Doctor Kaufmann has Claudia there. We have to save her too."

"Ok let's get moving." He moved towards the corridor entrance nearest the stairs. He opened the door to find a figure standing there. It looked like the shattered remains of a man. There wasn't much left of either face or flesh. The damage was obviously carried to the nervous system as he kept twitching violently.

"What the hell?" Mark said in astonishment. He didn't have long to wonder as the thing slowly rose its arm and pointed at the two. 'No. Not at us.' Mark realised 'behind us.' He swiftly turned to see what the twitching finger was warning them about.

It wasn't the unusual red angular helmets that drew his attention to the two intimidating creatures before him. It was more the massive weapons that caught his eye. "That can't be good." The one with the lance made a bullish sound and charged at him. He grabbed Alessa and bolted for the nearest door. "Come on."

She didn't put up a fight. He shoved Alessa into the locker room just in time to see the twitching monster grab the lance like a snake darting for a mouse. It swung the red pyramid head monster through the doors and down the stairs.

"Thanks." Mark said. The twitching monster looked around only to get stabbed and thrown aside like it was nothing but a rag doll.

"Shit. Go. Go. Go." He shut the door and saw they were in the locker room with no way out. "Great. Those things are right behind us."

Alessa tugged his arm. "This way." She bolted around a row of lockers until there was nowhere to go.

"What are you doing?"

"Wait."

THUD.

The door burst open and a loud screeching noise was heard as the pyramid head with the blade entered the room. The pair waited, crouching together like a couple of frightened rabbits. As soon as she heard the monster turn the corner she used one of the open lockers to clamber up on top of the row and dropped down the other side. Mark swiftly followed her.

"That thing fell down those stairs so we're going to have to use the other ones."

Alessa nodded. "Ok. Follow me." They rushed past the music room and dashed into the corridor only to find that it was blocked off by some sort of metal grate.

"Who did all this? I couldn't have been out that long."

"You weren't Mark. I don't think this place exists properly. I mean I think it's in a different dimension. One where we don't belong so we don't get to say how it works."

"You're smart kid. I'll give you that. I'd say that idea works better then anything I could have come up with. Then again I don't have much of an imagination. That was always Cheryl's department. Any idea where we go from here Alessa?"

"Thanks. You're doing ok. Who is Cheryl?"

"You're doing well yourself. She was my daughter. She died. I don't really want to say any more about it. Hey I wonder what kind of classes they teach here. Something tells me they're not big on physics."

Alessa frowned she felt sorry for him. She wanted to know more but stopped talking about his daughter. If she learned anything from Dahlia it was when to stay quiet. "Should be a shortcut through that classroom. Although we won't find out until we try it. Ow!"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just got a sharp pain in my stomach. They must have started the spell."

"We need to get to your body to see if there's a way to stop this."

They entered the classroom and were surprised to see a phone on a single desk. It was disconnected so they were both pretty shocked when it started to ring. Mark apprehensively went over to it and took a deep breath before picking it up. He had a good idea whose voice would be on the line.

"Hello?"

"Daddy?"

"Hi sweetie." Tears started to drip down Shepherd's face as his dead daughter talked to him as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Ed Carmichael was shaking. Lorna was right this was bigger than he had thought. He had decided to question the priest again on a hunch that he thought the crazy man might talk. Whatever Kaufmann had to say obviously wasn't what the good Reverend wanted to hear. The only thing the priest said was "If the foundations are weak it becomes a time to rebuild. The director keeps the blueprints in his desk." After that he clammed up again.

If there was a land speed record for highways Carmichael was sure that he broke it getting down to Wish House. What he found was a folder full of lists. Including a list of names, places and what position in the Order the names could achieve. It seemed that Wish House were less in the business of receiving orphans and more in the trade of making them. It wasn't the positions that these people were in that scared him and they were in nearly every essential business needed to run the town. No it was the amount of names that were either directly or indirectly involved. There had to be at least half the population of the town mentioned here.

Ed read through the list picking up on a few names as he skimmed over them. M Kaufmann, well that was no surprise, L Wolf, D Gillespie, R Widmark, A DeSalvo, the list went on. Then he got to a page that made his face turn a ghostly shade of white. It was a list of children that was entitled new recruits. There had to be over seventy names here. All taken over the last four months from different towns in the state. Random selection ensured minimal suspicion. He glanced at the locations. Silent Hill itself, South Ashfield, West Fairbank, Brahms, Shepherds Glen. He wondered why the need for so many and how they had got away with this for so long.

He raced back to the station to inform the other districts. Within hours a fax was going out listing the missing children and the news that although they were presumed missing or dead their last known whereabouts was Silent Hill and there was a high chance that they were being used by a religious cult.

He assigned two officers he could trust to man the phones along with their normal telephonists to prepare for the flood of calls. Perhaps they would get a better lead. Lorna had an extra helping of enthusiasm to get the kids back as she had a young family and made it her personal mission to help the others. That and she knew that something was going on the whole time.

Ed's phone rang. It was an internal extension. "Hello. Ed Carmichael SHPD. How may I help?"

"Hi this is Officer Cybil Bennett of Brahms PD. I saw my sister on one of your lists. How likely is it that there's something to this list? If it's a hoax then someone's going to be missing a spleen when I get down there."

"No joke I'm afraid. If your sister Nichola is on this list then it's possible she is in danger. When did you last see her? Hello?" The line was already dead as Cybil hung up the phone as soon as she heard the word danger. Ed's eyes widened when he heard a second click. 'Shit. They're listening. They probably know our whole operation.' He had to do something. Never before had he felt so powerless and he hated it. Had he spent a bit more time looking at the folder he may have come across a list of people under surveillance. Amongst the names were M Gucci, J Schrieber and one E Carmichael.

* * *

Sheriff Adam Shepherd looked at the list with a grimace. How could the Order betray them like this? It seemed that despite all their precautions the kids were still in danger. The ones that mattered anyway. This could jeopardise all they had worked for. He needed to speak to Bartlett and fast. Something had to be done to stop this. At the very least the kids needed to be warned never to go to Silent Hill. He folded the fax and put it into his pocket making sure no one else in the station had seen it. He nodded to the receptionist as he walked out the door and headed for the town hall.

* * *

Cybil Bennett bolted from her desk hardly giving the chair time to spin.

"Heading out Chief."

Chief Hawkins was suddenly blocking her way with a scowl. "What makes you think its ok to just up and leave without at least saying something or leaving a note? Where are you headed? There a fire somewhere?"

"Actually yes. SHPD may have come through with a lead on the missing children."

Hawkins pinched the bridge of his nose. "Your sister?"

Cybil nodded. "Even if she is dead I have to at least try and bring her some justice."

"Justice or revenge?"

"Maybe a bit of both to be honest Chief."

He stepped aside. "Fair enough. I see there's no stopping you. Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Think your actions through properly and try not to do anything you will regret the rest of your life. Honour that badge you're wearing. There are enough Officers out there that tarnish it and I don't figure you're going to be one of em."

"Thanks. Will do." Cybil rushed out the door only to realise in her hurry that she had forgotten her keys. She turned back to see them flying at her face. She caught them instinctively. "Thanks Chief."

"No problem. Go get her; and Bennett?"

"Yes Chief?"

"Good luck."

Cybil nodded and rushed out the door grabbing her helmet and hurriedly putting it on. After all her searching it was time to finally learn the truth. She started her bike and headed down the highway. She hoped Nichola was alive but more importantly she hoped her sister could forgive her for giving up looking. Tail lights became red streaks in the dark as she sped out to the highway.

* * *

Told you it was long. Hope you enjoyed it though. Please R&R. Thanks for reading.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	14. Chapter 14

Just to show you that I have been keeping busy this chapter is extra long. Again you have been warned. Its really long. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 14: Racing the Devil

Kaufmann stood over Alessa in silent fury. How could such a simple plan go so wrong? It was probably in no small part thanks to Dahlia. It wouldn't be the first time her half-cocked rash actions had caused problems. He had to think of a way to fix everything. At least Gucci was out of the picture. That man had been a thorn in Kaufmann's side for quite some time. Only now things had gotten worse as he had heard reports that the police not only knew about the Order but were actually seeking them out to find the missing children. Solid plans were turning into dust. Wolf must have talked as well. It was the only explanation for the rapid response of the police. It was a shame really. The preacher had shown promise. Even now there was little satisfaction in his being locked up in Brookhaven.

Things were in disarray even down to his living arrangements. He had to rent a room at Nathans Motel just to avoid patrols regularly watching his house for anything they could put him away for. He had thought about staying at Nurse Garland's. After all she owed him a few favours for the regular supply he fed her. She was an easy mark as well as an easy lay with "Daddy issues" written all over her. All she needed was a firm hand and enough PTV to dull her pain. Thankfully he still had enough White Claudia to manufacture the drug. All he had to do was sell the latest batch and he could start up again. Perhaps in a nearby town like Brahms. He just had to find a way to leave this town. At the moment the heat was too high and the Order wasn't all he thought it would have been. They had resources but no real power so there was no way to get out through them.

He had no choice but to play the concerned doctor at the moment. Lisa was complaining about having to watch Alessa. She said the charred body of the girl freaked her out. He knew she wouldn't leave though. Not when her stash was at risk. It was for that reason he didn't stay with her. She may turn nasty if she didn't get what she needed. Kaufmann started to pace the room shaking his head and wondering what to do. He couldn't keep living like this. No. Something had to be done. Something to wipe all the pawns from the board. Something that meant he wouldn't have to leave. After all if you don't have to leave a place you're in charge of. It was time to take the town.

* * *

The highway was a blur as Cybil sped down the road. She didn't blink much in case she missed any sign of her sister. She hated long shots and never usually made a move unless she had a good reason to. If she had learned anything it was that following the wrong lead for the wrong goal could cost you. In her case she had been investigating a gang of car thieves. Being such a small town she would have thought it was easy. What she hadn't bet on was that it was part of a larger human trafficking operation. She had asked the wrong questions at the wrong time and in days the operation had either packed up completely or moved somewhere else. The thing was so had her sister.

She had started seeing this punk Carl. He had claimed he was a prison guard. He seemed Ok at first, a bit strange maybe but when Cybil ran a check on him there was no mention of him being from any nearby facility. When he vanished along with the gang and her sister Cybil nearly tore the area apart to find them. Unfortunately her efforts were for nothing as they had vanished like dust in the wind not only that but she nearly lost her job through illegal searches. Thankfully she had an understanding chief and no one wanted to prosecute but it got her suspended.

The lack of action and time spent alone with her thoughts almost killed her. She was a living wreck and didn't sleep for weeks, blaming herself for the whole thing. At some point though her resolve had strengthened and she decided to become a better, smarter cop. One that would bring her sisters abductors to justice. She had heard of stirrings in Silent Hill before but nothing solid ever turned up.

Now after seeing that list she knew that nothing would stop her. She just prayed she was in time to do something about it. At best she hoped to find her sister; though right now she would even settle for finding her body. It was a horrible thought but it was better than not knowing. The bike made a noise that was anything but reassuring. It seemed this better, smarter cop still had her moments. In her haste she had forgotten to check if the tank had enough gas. The bike slowed to a stop to show that evidently it didn't. She growled and in her frustration kicked it onto its side. She threw her helmet onto the ground and started walking.

A pair of lifeless eyes watched her from the forest. Following every step she took in the hope of finding out just why she looked so familiar…

* * *

Mark Shepherd thought he had shed the last of his tears over his daughter Cheryl a long time ago. He was wrong.

"Daddy why are you crying?"

"I'm just glad to hear your voice sweetie."

"I thought you only cried when you were sad."

"This is a special case. Sometimes you cry when you are happy. Where are you sweetie?"

"I don't know. It looks like a big toy store. It's so nice here but I miss you Daddy. Where are you?"

"I'm in a school. I miss you too pet. I'm pretty sure I will see you again but I have to help this girl."

"A school? Yuck. Yay I can't wait to see you. Is she a nice girl? Can I talk to her?"

"Sure sweetie."

He handed Alessa the phone and listened to her talk.

"Hi to you too. My name is Alessa. I like your name." There was a noise on the phone. Mark wanted to know what Cheryl was saying but Alessa held her hand up and shook her head. "Yes he's helping me right now. Yeah he's pretty cool. Don't worry I'm not keeping him. Ha ha I will. You take care too Cheryl. Bye." The phone disconnected.

"What did she say?"

"She said to keep you safe and she wants you to hurry up and see her."

There was a roar before the door exploded inwards with the force behind it.

"Jesus." The two exclaimed simultaneously as they watched the pyramid head with the blade unball his fist and slowly turn his head towards them.

"Time to leave." The two ran as fast as they could out into the corridor and nearly fell down the stairs. Panic set in when Mark saw the view from the corridor windows.

"The whole place is surrounded by fire. Crap. Is there a way to the roof?"

"We just came down it."

The roar made him think twice about going back up.

Alessa grabbed his arm. "Come on. This way."

"Where are we going?"

"Don't know. Getting pulled this way. Think my soul is guiding me closer to it."

Mark decided to just go with it. She brought them to the staircase at the other side of the building. The sounds of fighting going on up the stairs let them know the other pyramid head was busy.

"Let's go down before someone decides there's more entertainment to be had in pursuing us."

Alessa nodded and went down the stairs to the basement. Mark followed quickly. When they got there they were met with a grizzly scene. The room was dimly lit from above so that only the centre of the room was really visible. A man was tied to a stake in the middle of the boiler room. His eyes were shut and his face frozen in a contorted look of pain. A small light flickered in the darkness and they were amazed to see that it was held by a shadow. They hadn't expected to see anyone else alive here.

"What now?" Mark said.

The shadow spoke. "Shh don't wake him."

Mark gave the shadow a funny look. "Wake who kid? The dead guy? Why don't you come out of the shadows and we will get out of here."

Alessa gasped when she recognised the dead man. "Mr Gordon? Oh no! What happened to him?"

The shadow spoke softly as the room began to shake. "He fought the dragon and lost. If you're smart enough you won't join him. I used to be like you."

"Used to be?"

"The dragon ate me. Now I'm stuck in my shadow." It held the lighter closer to show that it was indeed a solid shadow with no features apart from its child like outline.

Mark covered his mouth "Holy crap."

Alessa felt sorry for the child. "Who are…were you?"

The shadow started to sound annoyed. "Does it matter? I'm dead. Pretty pissed off about it too. The warden lied. There is no paradise. Now I've been eaten by a huge worm and pooped out of a dragon. I am also your last chance to get out of here." The shadow produced a red chalk out of nowhere and started to draw a ring of symbols on the wall.

"What is that?" Alessa asked.

"It's a gateway. One of many now." The shadow replied.

"Why are you helping us?" Mark asked.

The shadow pointed at Alessa "I'm helping her. I know who you are and I'm taking a risk because I think you can help to sort all this out."

"You're from the Order aren't you? I keep telling people that I'm only a girl. I'm not the Red God. I'm not even Lobsel Vith."

"No but you are destined to be the Mother of God. If that doesn't give someone the right to call in a few favours I don't know what does."

Mark looked taken aback. "Did he just call you the Mother of God?"

Alessa sighed. "Yes but I don't want to be as it will mean the whole world will burn. It's a long story."

The shadow piped up, "I'll say. Millennia in the making to be precise. Anyway that aside I want you to meet someone. He will put you on the right path. Just because you read a couple of books you shouldn't assume you know everything about what's going on here. I know it doesn't make sense now but trust me you need to see him." The shadow finished the last symbol and stood back for a second to admire his handiwork. The sound of boots slowly thumping down the corridor could be heard. The shadow looked panicked. "Crap. What is that?"

"Monsters. There's three of them. One is on our side; I think. The one you can hear isn't. It's one of the two chasing us."

"Well that's just great. I'll open the gate for you but after that you're on your own. Head for the hospital. That's where your answers lie."

"Thanks shadow kid."

"Don't mention it." He used the lighter to burn the inner ring of symbols. The inner circle started to twist and a hole opened up in the wall as if it had been hidden away the whole time. "There's a network of tunnels in there so you may want to watch out for more of the worms. The man you need to meet has started a blue fire so follow that. There should be a gate very close to the hospital. Now get out of here before…"

The room shook as a huge roar sounded. Mark grabbed Alessa and bundled her into the tunnel.

"Don't look back just go." Mark looked back to see Mr Gordon's body burst into flame lighting up the room and revealing the shadow running into a corner and fading into the darkness. A large grey lizard the size of a small bus slowly made its way towards them. "Holy shit. Alessa move as fast as you can."

Alessa sped up just as Mark dived in behind her. The shadow looked back and forth between the dragon and the gate. "Aww crap." He ran over and blew out some of the symbols, breaking the circle and closing the gate behind them. With his job done the shadow shrank back into the corner. He was curious to see just what was big enough to decide to willingly wake the dragon.

* * *

The two pyramid head monsters clomped down the stairs. Whatever they were being urged to do it obviously had to do with the destruction of that girl as the impulse was completely overwhelming. When they saw her they could think of nothing else. McCaw spoke to Durant now the madness was over.

"What the hell was that?"

"The monster that threw you like a pebble or what we just did?"

"Both."

"The monster is a servant of the demon. His name is Valtiel and his tale a tragic one."

"My heart bleeds. Well…you know what I mean. What was the other thing then?"

"What we just experienced was God's will imposing itself on us. In other wards demonic mind control."

"So how do we stop it?"

"You can't. We're slaves to Samael's will now. Get used to it."

"That other monster wasn't a slave. Why don't we ask him his secret?"

"That's…not a bad idea actually. He did seem to be a bit less under the influence didn't he. What happened to him anyway?"

"He escaped through a hole that came out of nowhere. Thought he came down here. I was going to get some payback."

"Great he's going to be hard to find then. Best hold off with the payback thing. At least the girl is gone. I don't sense her anymore. Let's hope you're right and Valtiel is down here."

A roar shook the building causing the two to nearly lose their balance. John pointed down the stairs. "Look there's a light and I know I saw something moving down there."

Nathan stopped him from going down. "Ok yes there is something down there but you do remember that roaring right? Something tells me that Valtiel couldn't really manage that."

"Why not? I'm sure ol' Twitchy is plenty angry."

"True enough but having a mouth is normally a good start when you want to make a sound like that. My point is that it's probably not him and as you know we are not entirely indestructible so don't charge in."

A long tongue snaked its way up the stairs and wrapped around Nathans leg quickly dragging him down towards a terrible beast illuminated by the fire. Nathan tried cutting the beast but the wounds just healed as quickly as he made them. He shouted up the stairs. "Forget what I said before. Charge in. CHARGE IN!" Nathan was flipped up in the air, his blade clattering to the floor. The dragon tried to eat him head first. Both he and the dragon got a painful experience out of it. Nathan's head felt like a cabbage in a washing machine. John charged in stabbing at the beast. It was temporarily stunned after bouncing off Nathan's helmet. The external wounds healed as before.

John called over to Nathan. "You ok man?"

The pyramid head on the ground lifted his head slightly to say "I'm fine thank you Penelope. Let me know when the tea party starts. I want to get some cherry bakewells before they're all gone." His head hit the floor again with a CLUNK.

John sighed as he faced the beast. 'That's a good sign. Nathan has gone crazy and I'm stuck talking to myself. This day keeps getting better.' The dragon came at him, its jaws gaping vertically. It roared shaking the room and spraying blood over him. John was glad of the helmet as that blood didn't smell too great. It was then that he noticed the beast still bleeding from inner wounds. 'Aha. There's an idea.' Remembering what Durant said about being indestructible John backed towards the fire. The dragon seeing this as a sign of fear charged. John dodged to the side and heard a squeal and the sound of sizzling as the intimidating creature wrapped its huge maw around the burning corpse of Mr Gordon. A screeching yelp came from the creature and it ran to the other end of the room where it cowered from the sight of John.

John walked over to Nathan to help him up. Durant came round slowly. He sniffed as he lifted his blade off the ground.

"We won then. What on earth is that smell?"

"I won and that smell is victory."

"Victory smells like bacon does it?"

"Mine does."

"OK. Well thank you anyway for charging in."

"That's ok. You know its strange. It kinda reminds me of a dog I had once."

"You can't keep it!"

"Haha. I know. Right so where do we find this Valtiel because he's not here."

Nathan thought for a moment. "I have an idea but it will require a good bit of walking and you will have to be strong enough to ignore that constant calling in your head."

"Got you. Lead the way Nathan."

The two trudged back up the stairs. The fire died out as they did.

* * *

A small number of people gathered in the town hall of Shepherds Glen.

A woman with tied back blonde hair and a serious face looked again at the list. "So it's agreed. In order to preserve our own future we must be totally cut off from the Order."

Adam Shepherd spoke. "Yes Judge. The way I see it we have no choice. Think about it this way. What if one of the chosen is kidnapped by accident when the time comes? Then our town is doomed to suffer the wrath of the Red God just the same as anyone else."

"You have a point." Judge Holloway replied.

A skinny man with glasses chipped in. "How do we even know it's the Order?"

Mayor Bartlett cut him short. "Of course it's the Order. Do you think actual human traffickers would survive long enough to carry out their trade in that region? You know what happens to sinners in these parts. I say we carry on as normal, deal with any Order related problems with extreme force and keep all children out of Silent Hill. Agreed?" He heard no arguments. "Right. Next point on the agenda. Renovation and restoration of the Town Hall and the underlying Sewer structures."

* * *

Cybil didn't know what to do. Her mind was screaming at her to run but her body just wouldn't obey. How could it? This was her baby sister. True she was a knife wielding maniac at present but that didn't change the fact. She had known she was being trailed a while ago. Her sister was quiet alright but Cybil wasn't deaf and the forest was a lot less noisy than usual. A fog had rolled down from the surrounding hills to smother the valley below. It was so thick that it was almost claustrophobic. When Cybil turned to confront her stalker the only thing apart from barely recognising her sister was to notice the dagger she carried in front of her as if she were physically cutting a path through the fog.

"Nichola. Honey it's me. Cybil. Where have you been? What have they done to you?"

The ragged Nichola stared at Cybil for a long time. She didn't recognise the name but there was something familiar about the lady in front of her. She noticed Cybil's hair and got excited.

"The Sun. You have my Sun! Give it back. It's not yours."

Cybil's heart shrank. "What do you mean? It's foggy. Do you want a light? Come on sis please remember."

Nichola didn't seem to respond properly any more. Cybil knew she had to get her back to Brahms safely. Nichola needed the kind of help only a professional could provide. She holstered her gun and handed Nichola her torch. Nichola looked at her as if she were stupid.

"No. That's a light. I want my Sun. You have it and I'm taking it back." In the blink of an eye Nichola knocked Cybil out with the torch. Her adrenaline levels were going crazy and the whole forest seemed alive in that moment. Cybil went down hard. Nichola poked her gently in the leg with her dagger just to make sure that she wasn't getting up again anytime soon. When she got no response she sat down on the hard forest floor and put Cybil's head in her lap. She started to stroke her sisters bright blonde hair.

"My Sun. Finally I can get my Sun back." She quickly cut a lock of hair and began fastidiously tying it to her own tatty locks. "You will never leave me again. My beautiful, beautiful sunshine." She began singing "You are my Sunshine." Her fingers brushed against Cybils badge and a moment of recognition flashed across her mind. One of her and her sister playing cops and robbers in their back garden. She looked down at her sister and started to realise what she had done.

"Silly Cybbie? Oh no. What did I do? Help. Someone help me."

A twig cracked behind her. She spun her head to see Carl standing over her. "What the hell is this Nichola?"

"It was an accident." She was starting to fret. "Help me please."

Carl put his hand on her shoulder. "It's ok. Help me get her to the pickup. I'll fix all of this."

Nichola was only too happy to help. The two headed back towards the road quickly. It wasn't long before they reached the truck parked at an observation point. Carl looked around nervously. He scanned the grubby mess of a girl in front of him.

"You need to wash. Use those toilets. The hospital will start to ask the wrong kind of questions if they see you like that."

Panicked and stressed Nichola didn't question the order. She ran the taps for a while and looked at herself in the mirror. She remembered being much prettier. "Have I really changed that much? It's going to be ok now. I have Cybbie back. She will know what to do. Everything is going to be better now."

The sound of a click drew her attention to Carl standing behind her with her sister's gun. "You couldn't be more right baby." He didn't even blink as he fired a round, hitting her right between the eyes. He holstered Cybil's gun and threw Nichola over his shoulder. He dumped the body unceremoniously in the back and pulled the cover over both of them. Suddenly he heard a groan from under the tarp. Carl panicked 'Shit that bitch isn't dead.' He pulled the cover back to see Cybil starting to move. He quickly grabbed her head and twisted until he heard a loud crack. After finding no signs of a pulse he relaxed, secured the tarp and got back in the pickup. The truck took a bit of convincing to start but eventually got going. Carl drove quickly towards the docks. After today who was going to notice another couple of bodies in the lake.

* * *

The sound of muffled chains clinking woke Cybil from what seemed like a long slumber. Her neck was killing her. She slowly looked around to see a field of cages being held to the ground by chains. Nothing about this was right. She was underwater and not drowning. Not to mention the cages were floating. 'What's going on here?' She heard a sobbing not far from where she was. It was Nichola.

"I'm so sorry Cybbie. I got us killed."

"I don't believe that for a sec…" Her sentence was cut short when she saw the bullet hole in Nichola's forehead. "Do you know what happened?"

Nichola hung her head. "Carl."

Cybil bashed a gloved fist against the cage. "That bastard! I knew he couldn't be trusted. Did he tell you to do this?"

Nichola shook her head. "No. I got confused and hurt you. He was going to take us to the hospital and make it all better. He told me to go wash up first then BANG. I woke up here. I'm so so sorry."

Cybil tried to keep calm. "It's not your fault. Do you remember what we called each other when we were kids?"

Nichola nodded. I was tricky Nickky and you were silly Cybbie."

Cybil smiled. "That's right Tricky Nickky because you were always so smart. How did they trick you?"

Nichola's face was like a stone. "They didn't ask nicely and they weren't nice no not nice at all. I remember what happened what they did but I tricked them. That's what I did. You can't hurt a stone and that what I turned into. A quiet cowering little stone. Only I pretended so hard I forgot so much stuff."

"That was trauma. Your mind couldn't cope. Poor Nickky."

"Poor you too. You're just as dead as I am."

"Yeah. Not thrilled about that to be honest."

"Who would be?" A gruff voice called from a few cages over.

"I don't think anyone wants to be here. It's this place. No matter how or why it finds a way to lure people here. People who have something it wants." Nichola said vacantly.

Cybil was puzzled. "Silent Hill? Sure it has its share of problems and crazies but at the end of the day it's just a small tourist town."

Nichola shook her head. "No that's what the paint of the town shows. You have to dig deeper. It has been sleeping for a while but the town is waking up again."

The gruff voice called out again. "It's hungry again. That's why its waking up."

Cybil shouted back. "How do you know what it wants?"

The voice sighed. "Well I haven't been down here long but if you stop talking a while you can hear the others telling their stories about the place. Look at the ground." Cybil did so. "See that? Apparently that line is something to do with a spell that we are a part of. A spell to free…"

"SILENCE!" The voice rang out from across the field.

"Oh hell fire. It's a keeper." He whispered. It was clear the man was shuddering.

A beautiful woman came into view. She was dressed in a flowing white robe that almost glowed down in the gloom and left nothing to the imagination. Her black, shoulder length hair tousled gently as she moved. The only odd thing of note that Cybil could see was a large leather gauntlet with a red symbol on her right arm. She did not look like much but the tone in the man's voice told her to tred lightly.

"Who are you?" Cybil called down to her. The woman looked up with black souless eyes that sent a deep fear into Cybil's heart.

Nichola didn't like her. "Make her stop looking. Tu fui Ego Eris. Tu fui EGO ERIS!"

That got the woman in white's full attention. She called over to them with a sweet voice that sounded as if she were half talking half singing. "Ahh sisters is it? I am Sabriel the keeper of this field. I would know where the broken one learned that magic from."

Cybil sensed that they would suffer greatly if they put a foot wrong here. "Nickky answer the nice lady."

"She's not nice. She stole a piece of someone to make that dress. She did. Her name isn't Sabriel either. Names mean power and demons don't give them away. No they don't." That seemed to be the wrong thing to say. The woman known as Sabriel grinned then lined the glove up with Nichola's cage and tightened her grip. The cage got smaller and smaller.

"Ahh it hurts. Why does it hurt? I'm dead. I been good."

"Fool child. Death is only the beginning. The only release here is rebirth. In this realm you will find false hope, justice and pain. Can you guess what my specialty is?"

Nichola's eyes widened. "I'll be good."

A spark flashed in Sabriel's eyes. "Oh I know you will." The grip relaxed. "Now where did you hear that spell?"

"Story time in the round tower. They fed us many stories to push our memories out."

The grip tightened. "Lies I know who comes down here. I know what magic we gave to those in power. That is a forbidden spell. Now where did you find it?"

"Ouch. An Indian gave it to me. I met him fishing at the lake side. It was my rebirthday at the mother stone. He gave me the story book as a present but said not to tell."

Sabriel smirked. "I'm surprised that husk is still walking. He shall be dealt with then." She whistled and a strange creature that looked like a mix between a skinned penguin and a manta ray rose up from its hiding place on the lakebed to perch on Sabriel's gauntlet. She petted it under its fleshy beak and sent it on its way. It glided gracefully through the water until it broke the surface and took to the air with a screech.

Sabriel turned to Nichola. "Now little one. Since you were so good I will give you one wish."

Nichola thought good and hard. "Let Cybil go. She shouldn't be here."

"Awfully noble of you dear. You sure you don't want to save yourself?"

Cybil shouted over. "No. What are you doing Nickky? This isn't a game."

Nichola remained resolute. "Hush silly Cybbie. There's things I know that you don't. I will be ok."

At that moment Cybil didn't know what to think. Nichola was smart and seemed to be totally convinced that she knew what she was doing. There was still a bad feeling in Cybil's gut. Sabriel picked up on the exchange.

"Looks like your sister is a bit ungrateful Nichola. I'm debating whether she deserves your love. As for you tricky Nickky I will grant your wish but remember what I said about false hope." With that she made a chopping motion and Cybil's cage sliced open at the top. "If you can reach the shore up there then you get your life back."

Cybil was still cynical about the whole deal. "What's the catch?"

Sabriel smiled menacingly. "Good word choice. The catch is that you will be pursued by one of my pets. You should also try to avoid cross currents as they will play havoc with your mind. Other then that anything goes."

Cybil turned to face Nichola. "I don't want to leave you. I don't care what I have to do I'm getting you out of this place. Be careful. I love you tricky Nickky."

"Don't worry sis. I will be ok. You will see."

Sabriel grew impatient. "Enough of the pleasantries. Seeing as I am in a sporting mood I will give you a head start. Better make it count."

Cybil didn't need to be told twice. She squatted down to the bottom of the cage and forced her way out like a torpedo, leaving her empty cage to drift. She stole a quick glance down at the field. There were thousands of cages swaying in the water and very few were empty ones. She could see the glow of the keepers as they walked. The wide paths formed lines of a strange symbol she had never seen before but knew it was important. A movement on the lakebed floor drew her attention and she knew her head start was over. A high pitched screeching behind her only confirmed the fact.

Cybil knew that she wasn't the strongest swimmer so she didn't know how she was going to manage this. She pumped her arms in strong strokes and kicked her back legs as hard as she could. The screeching was getting closer. Sooner or later she would have to deal with this thing. Suddenly she started to move faster. Bubbles swirled all about her. She was caught in a current and swore she could hear voices as the bubbles swirled about her. Her limbs flailed everywhere. Any chance of swimming properly was out of the question so long as she was caught in this thing. The creature snarled. It was getting close.

The current changed direction and suddenly she was rushing upwards. 'I'm going to make it. I'm going to…' Something dragged at her, pulling her down. She peered into the murky water below. There was nothing there. She realised it was probably the cross currents keeping her there. There was something she had to remember about a field but it came and went in her head. She realised that her memories were fading. She started to struggle out of the pull and swam for her life.

A fleshy form that had chosen the wrong moment to strike slipped by her. She grabbed onto the tail and was hauled up out of the lake at a break-neck speed. The creature gave an angry cry as it dived back under. She still had to reach the shore. She was breathing hard. Come to think of it she was breathing again and the need to do so was almost killing her. She couldn't remember how she had got to the lake but she was seeing monsters and freaking out. The shape of the horror sprang out of the lake and wheeled about to dive bomb her, dragging her back under in the process. A glint of light flashed in the darkness and an arrow pierced the creatures head. It went down with a painful cry followed by a hiss when it hit the water. Cybil didn't wait for another one to show up. She swam for the shore and swam hard.

When she pulled herself up onto the beach she lay on her back raking in air as if she hadn't done so in ages. A shadow fell across her and she looked up to see an old Indian man with a bear skin jacket and blue jeans. He was holding a bow and had a broad grin brightening up his face.

"You almost didn't make it little soul. That demon must really not have liked you."

"You know what happened?" Cybil said in disbelief.

"You aren't the first one to do that and you probably won't be the last. You are the luckiest one I've seen so far. I will give you that."

Cybil thought hard for a second. "They have my sister. Those monsters have my sister."

The man nodded. "They do and they will keep her for a while until the time comes. The right time."

Despair started to set in. "When is the right time? I only accepted the challenge because I was sure she would break free herself."

The man put his hands up in a calming gesture. "She will. Just not yet. The demon never expects to lose. What is your name?"

"Cybil and yours?"

"Chief Black Bear. Come we need to talk. I have gas for your motorcycle and a favour to ask."

Cybil started to become wary again. "What sort of favour?"

"There is more than one force at work in this place. You have seen the bad. I wish you to be a force for good. Do this favour for me and I will help you get your sister back. Until the time comes however I want you to go back to Brahms and carry on as normal. Say nothing of what has gone on here. Say there was nothing to be found."

"Why?"

"It is important the demon doesn't suspect anything. This is not the sort of game for the impatient. Rash moves put more in peril then you know. You will return here seven years to this day. A man will come in a red jeep with a small girl. The girl will be seven with short black hair. She may not look much but she is a chance for the true salvation of this land and the riddance of the demon currently in control."

Cybil interrupted. "So I protect the girl and bring her to you?"

The man shook his head. "This is the sort of rash action I was talking about. No it is the man I want you to protect. He is the one with the power to influence the Mother of God. I want you to do everything in your power to help him."

"Ok but I still don't understand everything going on here."

"Come on. I will explain more in a while. You need to eat and rest. Once I have explained everything you will see why this needs to be kept a secret. It cannot reach the ears of those that it is not intended for." The two continued along the shoreline in silence. The moon bounced off the lake making it seem like a giant mirror. A breeze playfully glided over the water and with it came the faint sound of chains clinking.

* * *

Thats it. If you have read that in one go I feel sorry for your poor eyes. Thanks for reading anyway. Feel free to R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	15. Chapter 15

OK its going to be a bit trippy. You are warned. This is the second last chapter. Wooo. So near the end.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 15: The Breaking of Dawn

Dahlia knew she was playing a dangerous game but it was one she lived for and she was nothing if not adaptable. The original plan had hit a major snag but nothing she couldn't fix in time. Unfortunately that was fast running out thanks to Leonard. The good news was that her little plan B was coming along nicely. There was more than one way to birth a God and either method would be acceptable in God's eyes. Dahlia just preferred the plan involving her daughter as it had that certain personal touch that she was fond of. Not to mention it had a lot of time and resources invested in it.

She had been questioned by the police about Alessa and the fire. She explained to them that the two of them had gone back to get more clothes and religious items as the day to day practises still needed to be carried out. Dahlia had gone upstairs to get more clothes and Alessa had gone to the alter room. She told the officers that she heard a thump and before long screaming. She had rushed downstairs to save her precious Alessa but the damage was done. She was only grateful that God saw fit to spare the girls life and see to it that she got the medical attention of the best doctors in the area. Dahlia said the girl must have knocked over a candle and tripped or something. All she knew was that her baby girl was on fire when she reached her. She neglected to mention about how the fire spread just so quickly or how that blasted trucker came along to pull an inconvenient superhero stunt. The police knew something was fishy with her story but they had nothing with which to charge her so they were forced to let her go.

Dahlia visited Claudia who was happy to see her and showed her the gateway she drew. That part of the plan worked well at least. No one suspected the children being the Order's main instruments. She kissed her forehead and told her to stay safe. She left the hospital quickly before Kaufmann or one of his lackeys came to winge at her. She couldn't quite face Alessa yet either. The failure and all its consequences were too much to think about right now. She would go back after she had set plan B in motion again. First thing was first. She needed to get to a phone.

Dahlia made her way to the Green Lion and locked all the doors. Sitting down in an armchair she took a few deep breaths before picking up the receiver and dialling. The phone on the other end rang for precisely seven rings then someone picked up.

"Hello?"

Dahlia breathed a sigh of relief. "Hello is that the Reverend Stone?"

A prim and proper voice with menacing undertones answered her. "This is he. Whom might I be addressing?"

"Dahlia Gillespie."

"Ah. I had a strong feeling we would be conversing this soon. There is a builder at the ready and the plans are almost passed in order to build a new and dare I say slightly better Wish House. The 4S society will have you placed firmly back on your feet in no time at all."

"Reassuring as that is I am calling you about a different matter. I fear we have lost dear Reverend Wolf to the depths of Brookhaven. We need more than a building replaced. We need the Order of Valtiel to rise from the ashes."

There was a considerable silence on the other end of the phone. "Are you quite sure? I mean you are aware of the full consequences of this action."

"Yes and yes. I have already started the eleventh victim down his path."

The reverend Stone grinned in his chair. "Excellent. Consider yourself in the services of a new Red Devil. What is the victim's name?"

"Walter Sullivan."

"Good. A nice strong name. The newspapers will no doubt appreciate that. What progress have you made with him so far?"

"Put it this way. He knows his scriptures and is already establishing a connection to create a sacred birthing chamber."

"Excellent. Good work sister. Now is there another matter that needs my attention?"

"There is nothing else that cannot be fixed at my level."

"I shall rephrase my last question. There is another matter that needs my attention. You are not the first member to contact us. Quite a few have already asked our help in relocating to avoid the attentions of the local law enforcement. However it was a Doctor Kaufmann's request that really interested me."

"That money grubbing drug peddler? What did he want?"

"He seemed a tad frustrated that the Order has been exposed to numerous departments of the police. Thankfully we took steps to put deep cover agents in place as a contingency plan. So the damage was localised to only a few stations. Needless to say we were extremely surprised that the plan needed to be carried out in the first place. I was troubled to hear about these lists of the Orders who's who circulating about general population. I expect a full explanation when we meet again. Luckily for you our diligent members in the law enforcement side of things took care of most of the lists. I have it on good authority that Shepherds Glen is on lockdown because of this fiasco.

So the only forces to worry about are the Silent Hill and Brahms divisions. We are very close to crippling the Brahms force through means of bribes at the highest levels. The rank and file will have to follow their superiors Order given objectives whether they like it or not. As for Silent Hill the plans in place rely on this sacred ground being secure so I plan to purge the remaining members of the force that are not under Order control and replace them with my own disciples. My worries do not really lie with the police. They are easily dealt with."

"What's the problem then?"

"The problem dear sister Dahlia is that the Order itself has gotten sloppy in this area. The Order of Valtiel never really died out you see. We have been keeping our eyes open and intervened only when absolutely necessary without leaving a trace of our involvement. How do you think the mayor developed that bout of sickness so rapidly? We have been keenly watching your plans including all your mistakes, hoping against hope that you children could turn things around yourselves. Well I feel after today that we have been forced out of the shadows and this town will resume normality under our control.

Your plans can proceed as before but you will now run all major decisions past us first. It is past time that this situation was taken care of properly. I will instruct Walter personally in case your plans with the girl fall through entirely. Rest assured sister Dahlia; God will be born and we shall all be rewarded in paradise. I will expect a full debriefing of your operation to date in order to get the full details of what we are taking on and exactly how big of a mess we have to fix. Hold a meeting by the vessels bedside in exactly three hours. My men have already secured the room. I imagine it will take a bit of time to contact the others. I will see you soon sister. God bless the faithful." With that the reverend Stone hung up with a click that may as well have been the thud of a judge's gavel sentencing not only Dahlia but the town of Silent Hill itself.

Dahlia collapsed back into the armchair wiping the sweat that had begun to form on her brow. That conversation took more out of her then she expected. Silent Hill and her branch of the Order were about to fall on hard times. She wondered to herself if she had done the right thing. She had a long night ahead of her. The phone was now heavier then she remembered. Dahlia tried ringing Kaufmann's house but got no answer. There was a similar lack of response from the others she needed. She had some detective work to do it seemed. It was a good hour later after ringing multiple Order safe houses that she had contacted the people she needed including a promise that someone would pass the message on to Kaufmann. She put the down and disconnected it from the wall. She would need a rest before the meeting at Alchemilla.

* * *

Alessa and Mark were cold and cramped as they traversed the dark tunnels. They had repositioned themselves so that Mark took the lead again in case they ran into any more of the Wyrms the shadow kid talked about. She called over to him.

"You see it yet?"

"I see something blue and glowing. Let's just hope these things aren't glow worms haha."

"Yeah real funny. Come on I don't want to be stuck down here anymore."

"Ok I'm moving. Oh I can see it now. We're closer than I thought we would be. I wonder how he's doing it. I mean what burns blue that you could pick up around here?"

The tunnel started to shake. All conversation stopped as the pair made a desperate dash for the exit. They tumbled out into the ambulance car park of Alchemilla hospital where they found themselves face to face with a large wolf. It quickly jumped over them to howl into the tunnel creating a strong wind. The Wyrm that had been following the pair inflated and got stuck in the tunnel. The wolf then used a paw to mar a symbol on the outside gate. The hole was swallowed by brickwork again.

Before the two could question what was going on there was a zipping sound as the wolf's head was contorted and two arms came out of the mouth. Soon the upper torso of a man appeared and the form twisted and groaned. It grew to be a young looking Indian man with a wolf skin jacket, leather trousers and walking boots. Alessa and Mark were speechless. The wolf man spoke.

"For people with so many questions I thought you would talk a bit more or do you intend to catch flies with your mouths open like that?"

"Wha..what are you?" Mark stuttered.

"The what does not matter. I am a Shaman."

Alessa tried next. "That explains a lot. My name is Alessa Gillespie. What's yours?"

The Shaman was pleased. "Ah now we're getting somewhere. Proper conversational skills. My name is Running Wolf."

Alessa's eyes widened. "No way."

"Perhaps I was mistaken about the skills. Yes I am Running Wolf. Why the disbelief?"

"It's just you must be a thousand years old by now. Father Wolf told us stories about you and your father. You aren't related to Father Wolf are you?"

Running Wolf shrugged. "Perhaps. I have known many women in my time. I am not anywhere near one thousand years old but I am a lot older than you. It is true that my father and I have had our share of adventures trying hard to keep this place safe. However now I fear something has gone wrong and it's something I'm not sure I can rectify on my own."

Mark spoke up. "That's an understatement. This girl and I have only been here a few hours and we have seen things that would make a normal person's hair stand on end."

The Shaman nodded. "I know. I have seen much too. It seems that the spirits are not content to be silent any longer. Part of the duties my father and I were given was to find and contain any spiritual disturbances but now things have changed so much that it's just not possible to do. I believe the demon trapped in this place is moving to break free from his shackles and he is using you to do it young lady."

"Hey." Mark exclaimed. "Don't scare her."

Running Wolf didn't look worried. "I would have thought being the Mother of God that she would be used to the idea of giving birth to one."

Alessa looked confused. "I know what I'm meant to be but something went wrong and I'm not that vessel anymore. I lost half of my soul. I think I always knew that God was bad. I mean how can you give birth to something good by setting fire to a kid and filling her heart with hate."

The Shaman nodded and smiled. "You are wiser than I gave you credit for. The God you read about is a demon named Samael. The real Red God has been dead for a long time. There are agents of Her rebirth at work but they are running out of time just as the agents of Samael are running out of time to stop them."

Mark looked worried. "Why? What's coming?"

"War." Running Wolf said simply and quietly. "If the Red God is resurrected before the hour of the final battle then Samael's forces will have a bigger problem than any army Heaven could send against them."

Mark thought about it for a while. "I think we ran into one of the Red God's agents. Twitchy fella with no face."

The Shaman looked puzzled. "Valtiel? You met him?"

Mark nodded. "Saved us from some pretty persistent monsters with red pyramid helmets."

"More has changed than I realised. Valtiel is meant to be under Samael's influence. I heard the Order had their hooks in him too. He is supposed to be a background worker only. A reality shaper. I doubt Samael would have trusted him with anything of importance seeing as he knows Valtiel fought against him. Samael is not really the second chance kind. If he is actively working against the Demon then Valtiel must have found a way to break free from its control."

Alessa looked at him expectantly. "And what does that mean to us?"

"It means the demons power is weakening and we have a chance of saving this land. There is a ceremony I would like to perform to weaken it further. Part of the demon is trapped in you Alessa and part is in your other half. I mean to make the other half of your soul into a separate being so God, the good God, can have a chance to be reborn."

Alessa was more than happy with this. "Sure. What do I have to do? Oh I had better tell you something first. The order has cast a spell to join my soul again but it's going to take time."

This shocked Running Wolf. "I was unaware they had that kind of magic at their disposal. They must have the Flauros. That's impossible though. That particular device was lost centuries ago by a disciple of Lobsel Vith."

"Well I heard them. They did the spell."

"I must take a look into that but first we will give birth to this little soul and hopefully buy some time to think of something before the joining can take place."

Alessa was unsure. "Is it really giving birth?"

"In a way. There is pain, then blood and a lot of pushing." He took out a pin and pricked her finger before she could do anything. He waited to see blood before he wiped the pin in it. He threw the bloodied pin into the blue fire.

Alessa narrowed her eyes while sucking her finger. "What did you do that for?"

"Pain and blood. Now comes the pushing. You need to will your other half into the fire and have her latch onto the bloody pin. I will do the rest."

Alessa shut her eyes and began humming a tune. She cleared her mind and focused on bringing the soul to her while she hummed. The fire danced and twisted into a column. The pin twirled and twisted in the midst of it all. Running Wolf chanted silently whilst kneeling beside the fire. Mark watched in amazement as the fire danced in the courtyard. It made the night sky seem to dance. The north star began to move. Suddenly Mark came to a realisation 'There's no stars in this place.' There would have been no one to answer him as the girl and the Shaman focused on controlling the pillar of blue fire before them. It wound and twisted itself, dancing with the star above it. The star began to descend lightly as if following some invisible staircase downwards.

The fire spread out to form the shape of a large blue bird. The Shaman's eyes went white as he started chanting louder. Mark stood in awe of the whole thing. Small, brightly lit beads of sweat started to form on Alessa's brow. Her humming increased in volume, allowing her to focus. The fire bird detached itself from the wood and soared into the air to retrieve the star. For a brief moment all the creatures, demons and spirits of Silent Hill looked up at the spectacle in the sky knowing it was something they would never see again. Mark noticed the activity around them. Shadowed creatures made for the sewers in fear of the bright light.

The bird plucked the star from the sky and suddenly dived towards the ground, whirling and spinning at incredible speed. Mark wondered what the hell was going on. "It's not going to stop. Take cover!" He tried to grab Alessa and Running Wolf but he may as well have tried to move the hospital. "Aaagh" he said as he covered his face. The firebird hit the wood pile like a wave hitting a rock. Blue fire splashed everywhere and faded instantly. The blast temporarily blinded Mark. When his vision recovered he saw a baby floating in the middle of a fiery flower. It grasped a bloody pin in its tiny fist.

Alessa was physically trembling with the effort of her concentration now. Running Wolf recovered and stood up. He placed his hands in the fire and took the baby from it. He slowly gave the child to Mark checking for possible injuries as he did.

"This is your charge. Whatever has come before this is all that matters now. You must say your goodbyes to the girl. Her journey takes another path from yours. I will see to it that she stays safe. You must get the little one out of the town. It is no longer a safe place for her."

Mark was confused but nodded to show he got the gist of it. Alessa was on the ground. Her breathing was shallow but she was still conscious. She smiled. "Wow that was really something Did I do well?"

Mark showed her the child. "Take a look for yourself."

"She's pretty. It's kind of weird though because she's part of me. I heard the Indian. I know I won't see you for a while. Thank you for helping me when I needed it."

"I'll miss you. It was nice meeting you Alessa. What will happen to baby Alessa once I get her out?"

"No. Not baby Alessa. The Order will search for a girl with a name like that."

"What then?"

"I like the name Cheryl."

Mark sounded an unexpected laugh. It had been years since he had held a child in his arms with that name. "Thank you so much."

Alessa was puzzled and not a little tired. "For what?"

"For a chance of redemption. Take care and try not to forget whats at stake. I know you are a kid and a lot has been put on you but I want you to remember something."

Alessa was starting to lose consciousness. "What's that?"

"I know this world can be cruel but no matter what happens there is still time to save things and there is always things in the world worth saving."

She nodded with a serious look. "I will remember. Goodbye Mark."

"Goodbye Alessa." With that she passed out.

Running Wolf picked her up. "I will take her to where she needs to be. You know what you need to do."

Mark looked at the child in his arms. "I do. Take care Wolf and thanks for earlier." The two turned away. The Shaman headed into the hospital and Mark made for the highway.

* * *

"Quickly he went this way."

Durant sighed. John McCaw turned out to be a good tracker but even he found it difficult to track down an otherworldly creature.

Nathan counted quietly. "Three. Two. One…"

"Aww God damnit! Not another hole!"

"That's the fifth time in this building. You may as well give up and try somewhere else."

He heard a metallic screeching then a solid CLANG. He rushed around the corner.

"What's going on?"

John waved a large red valve in his left hand. "I just changed the rules." A large hand reached out of the hole and grabbed the valve, pulling the previously smug McCaw into the wall. "Aaargh. Sonofa..will you help already? This guy is a real fighter." Durant ran over to McCaw and grabbed hold of the struggling pyramid head. "How is he this strong?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?" Durant quipped.

"Screw you. You ask him. My helmet is the only thing keeping me out of this goddamn hole."

"Right on three."

"Do what on three?"

"Put your foot on the wall and shove off it."

"Right."

"One. Two."

"Three." John McCaw shoved his foot off the wall and pushed off hard. Durant grabbed him and pulled backwards at the same time. The whole lot fell in a heap on the floor. Valtiel struggled hard to get away but the two pyramid heads pinned him fast to the ground.

John spoke. "Easy twitchy. We ain't gonna hurt you we only want to talk."

"How are you going to communicate?" Durant cut in. "He hasn't got a mouth."

McCaw gave the valve handle to Valtiel. "Bang once on the wall for yes. Twice for no. You ok with that?"

The creature looked at the handle then at the monsters holding it down. It hit Durant over the head making a loud CLANG. After his head stopped spinning it was Durant's turn to swear.

"You stupid little git. I'm going to break you into…"

"Durant!"

"What?"

"He said yes."

"What!"

"Look at him. He's not struggling. That must have been his idea of a joke." McCaw turned to Valtiel. "Was that a jokey way to say yes?"

Valtiel considered banging Durants head again but stuck to hitting the wall. "CLANG."

John got up and waited for Nathan to do the same grudgingly. "Come on Nathan you said yourself he could help."

"That was before. When I didn't think he was an asshole."

John laughed and Valtiel shrugged although it was indistinguishable from his normal twitch.

Durant spoke first. "Ok. First things first. Yes we know about Samael and yes we know about the Red God. What we really need to know before we can help you is have you found a way to bring her back?"

"CLANG"

"Have you found a way to break the control Samael had over you?"

"CLANG"

"Can you teach us?"

"CLANG. CLANG"

"Shit."

"CLANG"

"That wasn't a question smart ass. Is it because we are different?"

Valtiel hesitated before sounding another. "CLANG"

John caught on to where this was going. "Is it because of these helmets?"

"CLANG"

"Do you know of a way to get them off?"

"CLANG. CLANG."

"That's not good."

"CLANG"

"It wasn't a question. Do you know someone that could help us?"

Another pause before "CLANG."

"I take it that means that there's a problem getting to them."

"CLANG"

"We need to get out of His control. Would you take us to them or help us get in contact?"

Valtiel thought for a long time before he came to a decision. "CLANG" He took off down the hall.

"Follow him." The pyramid heads shouted in unison. The pair sped down the corridor to find the creature waiting by a hole in the wall. He gestured for them to enter.

"Here goes nothing." Durant said. They both stepped inside what looked like an old style elevator.

Valtiel stepped in with the valve handle. He inserted it into a control panel and began turning. It was hard to tell but the twitchy monster seemed happy about his work. He hadn't had a conversation in some time. Mostly he was ordered around. This was different though. He got to talk back; after a certain fashion of course. He was still unsure about the two behind him. After all it was a pair like this that helped to make him the way he was now and he was more than a tad resentful about the whole thing. These ones seemed to be different. The punishers had never wished to talk before. Perhaps this was the sign of change he was looking for.

The elevator ascended as he turned the valve. Different locales within the town flashed by wherever there was a gateway. Suddenly he saw a forest and the lift stopped with a jolt as he stopped turning. He motioned the two to step out. They did so looking about themselves to get their bearings.

Dumont recognised the place. "This is the Mother Stone."

"CLANG" Valtiel confirmed as he tapped the handle off the stone. He started looking for something. The creature became frustrated.

"Wander what he's looking for?" John said.

Durant spoke up. "I may have an idea. I read his story a long time ago." Durant walked over to the gate and rubbed out one symbol, breaking the spell and closing the hole. Valtiel became excited as the thing he was looking for had obviously reappeared. He touched certain symbols with gestures that looked strange but obviously had meaning. Valtiel stood back as the symbols slid into one another to form a cavernous entrance with runes around the frame. The runes seemed to be similar to that of a gateway but the spell was obviously a lot older as it involved the use of a living stone.

The three walked inside to find a room full of carved frames and splintered glass.

John spoke up. "Someone had a party."

The others looked at him and shook their heads. Durant inspected the frames and studies his surroundings closely.

"I recognise the description of the place. This is the vault of guardians from your story right?"

"CLANG" Valtiel tapped lightly on the stone. It was obvious he had respect for the place.

Durant looked at the floor. "Those shards aren't glass are they?"

"CLANG. CLANG"

"I've seen this material before. There is a vein of it in the coal mine. I see you want us to rebuild."

"CLANG"

"That will take years to do without drawing the attentions of Samael."

"CLANG"

"I take it you have been restoring this place for a while now."

"CLANG"

"Consider us your colleagues then. I hope this pays off in the end." He picked up a shard and started looking for where it belonged to. He knew it would take a long time but if it rid them of the demons control then it would be worth it. There was a clink as John found two pieces that joined as if by their own force.

"Hey I'm not too bad at this."

Durant smiled under his helmet. Perhaps there was hope to be found in this place after all...

* * *

Well thats it for now. Trust me some of the Pyramid head stuff working with Valtiel may seem weird but its going somewhere. Just not concluding in this story is all. Hope you enjoyed it. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


	16. Chapter 16

Well here it is the last chapter. I'm going to put more stories up at a later date but I have to say I'm so glad to have got this one finished. Hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Shepherd's Warning

"_Red sky at night shepherd's delight, Red sky in morning shepherd's warning."_

Chapter 16: End of the Road

The sound of machines made up for the silence in the room that held Alessa Gillespie's contorted corporeal form. Dahlia watched as a multitude of devices struggled to keep her charred husk of a daughter alive. Deep down though she knew that He was still in there. Soon one way or another He would rise and give her the power she craved. The power to strike her enemies down without any fear of reprisals. After all, who would dare attack God's chosen? She didn't care if He was a God or Demon. That term was relative anyway just as good and evil. All she knew was that He had the potential to deliver real power. Dahlia knew that she put up a strong front but behind that mask she had nothing to fall back on. Inside she was extremely vulnerable. Her relationship with Leonard only proved that. That's why she knew that she needed some real power to protect herself.

That's why she had turned to the Order for answers. It was also why Michael Kaufmann didn't kill her when he started his little drug ring and she opposed it. Her father's discoveries were not to be trifled with or misused. They were all she had left of him apart from her dreams. To see this petty pusher treat them as he liked was almost too much for her to take. There had been a moment when she tried to defy Kaufmann openly and she was sure that she would join her father when she felt Kaufmann's cold steel barrel pressed against her temple. He never followed through though. Just called her pathetic and walked away. It was in that moment she decided to become more than a push over and certainly something more than Kaufmann could handle. So she patiently bided her time until the right moment would arrive. She had a feeling it would be sooner rather than later.

There was a click as the door opened. A bald man stepped through. He was dressed in robes that befitted a priest. He smiled a wolfish smile.

"Sister Gillespie I presume."

"That's right. You must be Father Stone."

"Correct and this must be Alessa. My, my that's quite a tan."

"This is no time for joking!"

"I quite agree. I take it the others due for this meeting are the ones waiting outside."

"Yes."

"Bring them in then. I am ready to address you all."

Dahlia could feel the power slipping from her fingers and it was not a good feeling. She opened the door and ushered the small gathering inside. To think things had changed so dramatically since their last meeting at Wish House. It just went to show how little things could make such a big difference. When they were all settled the priest raised his hands and began to speak.

"Welcome everyone. I'm glad there's such a strong turnout. I know how on edge you all must feel right now with those lists being used by the police to hunt us down. I am here to bring good tidings that this particular problem need worry you no longer. As of an hour ago Silent Hill is under Order control."

"How?" One of the members asked foolishly.

Stone looked at them the way a viper would a mouse. His words cut the dangerous silence like a knife. "By downsizing through extreme force. If you need anything else spelt out for you I suggest you relocate. This Order is on the brink of chaos. I trust you can appreciate the irony of that. Personally I see it as a time to cut the dead wood and regrow as a stronger, stealthier and better organised sect. I mean look at yourselves.

Two plans to bring our Holy master into this world almost left in ruins. A loose cannon of a priest talks and you almost disband. Well put simply you're all weak and that needs to change. It will change now that the Order of Valtiel is in power. Since talking with some of you I have looked over a few things and decided how best to get back on track.

Kaufmann you may continue your operation on the condition that you keep Alessa here under guard and isolated from anyone outside the Order. I will supply you with men if needs be. Dahlia you will continue running Wish House once it is rebuilt. I want special care given to Walter Sullivan. I believe that boy is destined for something big. I shall make Wish House my base of operations. Mr DeSalvo you will continue your work however I want you to train more guards as there are new inmates in the Old Toluca Prison. I want you to make sure that they are neither seen nor heard am I understood?"

The large menacing man nodded with a horrible grin that unnerved some of the other members present. Stone continued talking.

"Those of you in the Historical Society I am putting you in charge of bringing more people into the area. I believe the previous recruitment drive has drawn too much attention to us and none of it good. We need to make the sheep feel safe again. I want a steady and discreet recruitment not a rushed shambles. Disappearances take a very long time to go away. Even with an Order controlled police force we can't prevent people from hiring outside help. I don't want any more bad publicity so lock it down.

Speaking of lock down. Shepherds Glen has gone off our radar recently. That means someone screwed up. We have had a profitable truce with them in the past. They don't mess with our affairs and we don't get caught taking their civilians. Now no one in my side of the Order is stupid enough to mess with their practises so I'm going to assume the list spooked them. Nevertheless I want a line of communication opened with them again. The only reason for this is that I don't need any second rate spells of theirs messing with the delicate work we are about to undertake. You all know what you need to do to fix this mess now get to it. If you need anything feel free to ask one of the brothers of Valtiel and we will do all we can to help. God Bless."

With that the room filed out one by one. Dahlia's face was nearly white. She had no idea how severe that meeting would be. She had no choice but to knuckle under and bide her time. She could see Kaufmann on the phone to someone.

"Just need you to hold it for a while."

He saw her and talked more quietly. She would have to watch him very carefully indeed. She walked quietly down the hall to visit what she was starting to consider as Plan C. She had to put this one in place quickly and quietly in case the others didn't work or in case Dahlia didn't live to see Plan A come into effect when the souls joined. She sat beside plan C's bed and gave her a colouring book.

"Hello Claudia. How are you doing today?"

* * *

Alessa punched the wall of the room her corporeal form was being kept in. She had heard the whole thing. Hot, angry tears trickled down her cheeks. Running Wolf could only look on. He knew this was not a moment for comforting words.

"Bastards. All of them. I was just a tool to be used. I thought that Mother at least cared for me even if she didn't show it that well. I was nothing but a way for her to climb the ranks. She didn't sound one bit upset. Do you know what that feels like? They wanted a heart filled with hate well they have done their job well. I want them all dead."

"That is within your power if you choose to follow that path. Be warned though once you get blood on your hands it is not easy to get it off again."

"I don't care. They deserve it. Look what they have done to me. Wait I can hear something. It's that nurse. She's complaining about looking after me again. I hate these people. I wish she would just go away somewhere and die." Alessa ran from the room in tears with Running Wolf close behind. He called out to her.

"Alessa wait. I can help you if you help me stop them."

She stopped in her tracks. Her head was hung low and she sniffled. "What do I have to do?"

"I can teach you a ritual to try and break the binding spell but it will take time to teach you the runes and the right way to draw them."

"Then can I kill them all?"

"If you still wish it."

"I do. Teach me then."

"After this there is no going back."

"Teach me."

With that the pair walked off towards Running Wolf's sanctuary.

* * *

Lisa Garland watched as the procession of people walked out of Alessa Gillespie's room. When she asked Dahlia what was going on the only sort of answer she could get out of the old woman was "It's a private vigil." Lisa didn't believe that for a second. She knew that the Doctor wasn't religious in any way and yet he attended the thing. When she had the chance she stormed over to him, her heels clicking loudly against the hard hospital floor. She put on her best fake smile in case anyone saw her but ended up looking like she was baring her teeth.

"Doctor may I speak with you a second?"

He put the phone down hard and brought his cold, hard gaze to meet hers. She didn't care. He was keeping her out of something and using her vegetable of a patient's room to do it.

"What is it Nurse Garland?"

She was surprised by the formal address. Normaly even on a bad day he would call her Lisa. 'He must be really pissed.' She hated being snubbed like that.

"So have you gone exclusive or will you still deal to the little people like me?"

Kaufmann grabbed her wrists in a vice like grip.

"Ow you're hurting me." She began to wince. She was scared into silence when he started speaking quietly to her in harsh tones.

"What the hell do you think you're doing you little idiot? That was not about what you think it was and I am not to be questioned by piss ant junkies like you. The only reason you haven't got as much…" He looked around and saw there were still people within hearing distance. "..attention is because I haven't been able to go home with all the extra police about. That has changed now so you should be able to get as much…attention as you can afford. You talk to me out in the open like that again and you will find yourself getting a very cold shoulder. Do you understand me?"

She was getting really scared now. "Please you're really hurting me."

"Good. You should remember that I can and no one is going to miss one more attention craving ditz if she goes missing from the ward. Now keep your mouth shut and do your job. We will talk later."

She broke free of his grip. "I don't get nearly enough attention for the job you're asking me to do lately. How is that girl even alive?"

Kaufmann's right eye twitched slightly. "We will talk later nurse. I have rounds to make. I suggest you attend to your patient. Good day."

He spun on his heels and strode off towards the director's office. When he slammed the door behind him he cursed very loudly. He checked the gun in his briefcase again. Lately he had seen it as a way to distress as long as he had the option to kill all the annoying people he had to deal with he felt a little better. He toyed with the idea of using it later.

Lisa ran into the bathroom just before her nerves got the better of her. When she got in the tears came out like a flood. She took out the small white bottle she kept concealed in her skirt. She unscrewed the cap and tapped out a couple of pills. The letters PTV were inscribed in them. She smiled as she swallowed her cares away with a handful of sink water. The calming effect was almost instantaneous. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She wasn't worried about anything. Not even the small trickle of blood coming from her eyes and nose could worry her. She simply ran the tap and started washing all the stress and blood away.

* * *

Mark was more panicked then what he would normally be if he were in the middle of a fire. He had already had several close calls with monsters. He hated this place. It reminded him of the town he had once called home and missed so much. He knew he couldn't leave until he did this though. The child would never have survived here on her own. She was a beautiful baby. He decided that it wouldn't be too hard taking care of her either as she was quiet. That alone was a Godsend. There was a point when he found a dead dog in a basketball court that he had to exclaim in a loud unintelligible shout. It drew the attention of something in the distance. He didn't give it time to find them as he hid in one of the nearby garages. The kid was quiet the whole time.

A sense of elation filled him as he saw a supermarket. He raised his head and picked up the pace. Something screeched overhead. He ran faster. Baby Cheryl made a gurgling noise and the screeching stopped and inexplicably decided to go a different direction. That surprised Mark a little. "You have powers little one?"

Cheryl simply replied with a quiet "He He."

Mark smiled back and scanned the area. He soon found what he was looking for. A large signpost giving the direction for the nearest highway. He looked down the road. It was a straight road and except for all the fog there seemed nothing to worry about. That was until he saw another signpost a little further down the road.

It read "Tread lightly or fight bravely. Ahead lies the gauntlet. Last hope of the brave and the desperate. It must be travelled alone. Your just reward awaits you at the end. Please place all valubles in the basket provided." He peered into the mist as a scraping sound approached rapidly. He was about to run when he noticed the narrow trench in the pavement. In seconds a carousel horse approached playing the same melody Alessa was humming earlier. A large basket was attached to its back.

The baby laughed and reached for the basket. Mark carefully lay her down on the soft cushions. "Ok little one. I guess I will see you at the finish line." She hugged his hand as he was taking his hands away. It was in that moment that Mark knew he would do anything for this child. He watched the carousel steed make its way down the road until the fog swallowed it up again.

He took his axe out and gripped it tightly, steeling himself for whatever lay ahead. 'Here we go then. Bring it.' As if on cue the fog began to clear and he really began wishing that it didn't. Before him lay a grid of what appeared to be small tattered girls. He took a quick count. They stood in front of him six across and eleven rows back. They were completely grey except for black hair. Their skin was covered in what appeared to be small craters. Their mouths were open at the same time as if they were one creature. They were breathing in fog. Each one pointed at Mark. He knew what they were meant to be. They were the victims of a bus crash that he blamed himself for. It was his duty to ensure all equipment was stowed on the truck. He forgot to bring the cutters accidently and because of that the whole bus went up in flames. By the time they got back to the scene he was assigned body clear up. He blamed himself for every one of their deaths. It just hit home all the more because he had to pull his daughter and wife from the wreckage. That was a black day in his past and it had taken a long time to move past it. He focused on the job and looking after his wife.

There was no running now. He had to face what happened head on. He waited to see what happened. After nothing happening for a couple of moments he approached the first row. "Hello?" He didn't really expect an answer which was just as well as the creatures had no tongues. Smoke started to pour from every orifice of the front row. On closer inspection he found that there was a smokeless space between two of them. Mark caught a whiff and nearly wretched. The smoke was laced with sulphur. 'Well this is going to be fun. Better make it quick. Hope there's an exit to this smoke maze.'

He wove his way through, looking for the nearest exit. He heard a loud stony crumbling sound behind him and saw that the smoke that touched the streets disintegrated them, leaving nothing but a disturbingly straight void. Mark knew he had to work quickly and if he put a step wrong it may be the last step he ever took. He looked around for something to give him an edge. One of the girls fell over. Luckily enough the smoke only poured out of one side. He suddenly got an idea. He brought the fire axe down on her torso hard then twisted. The creatures face contorted in silent agony. He held the axe in front of him pouring smoke onto the other girls. Suddenly they were falling all around him as he made his own path through them. When he reached the end he said a quiet sorry to them all before throwing the girl on the axe into the ravine.

After that ordeal he fought to get clean air into his lungs. The task took a lot out of him. Before he could completely recover something ran past him. Something small and fast. It was Robbie the class rabbit from Midwich. Mark wondered what it was running from. He looked behind to see the void spreading and eating up the road to catch up with him. He decided to follow the undead rabbit. There were lights ahead in the fog. The rabbit dashed to the right. Mark followed to see that if he had been a split second too slow he would have been run over by a bus. 'How the hell did that get here?' The bus continued into the void. He ran after the rabbit as fast as he could dodging oncoming buses as best he could. He pumped his legs harder. The darkness was coming and he felt that it was coming for him which terrified him. He shouted back at it. "What do you want from me?"

A voice called to him out of the darkness that chilled his bones. "Daddy. I want my Daddy back."

It wasn't Cheryl though. This thing knew about her but it wasn't her.

"Go to hell. I loved my daughter. I wish I could have saved her and my wife but I couldn't. I have accepted that. Why can't you?" The darkness was not pleased with this answer and sped up. The fog became thicker. There was something more though. In the distance he could see a carousel. He pounded down the road to get there. The darkness got there faster.

He fell only to grab the carousel just in time. He hung off the edge, spinning above the jaws of the void like a worm to a particularly large fish.

"Leave the baby alone. She never wanted any of this and don't you pretend to be my Cheryl again. I have a good idea what you are so you won't fool me."

The creature in the darkness smiled and kept taunting. "Daddy why don't you love me?"

Mark felt his strength ebbing away from his body. There was a glint of light as something fast flew from the top of the carousel into the darkness. There was a loud roar and a large hand pulled Mark onto the floor of the carousel. Mark lay on his back, the world spinning with light and bright colours. He heard the sound of a baby's laughter before he passed out.

When he awoke the darkness was gone and he was sitting near the side of a road. He held the baby in his arms and beside him lay a dead rabbit that looked awfully familiar. A man sat he wore a bear skin jacket and jeans.

"Well that was close. To be honest I thought it was a bit unfair to rig the gauntlet like that. A man can only do so much without help. That's why I offered mine."

Mark looked hard at the old Indian. "You don't have a son do you? Thanks for the help by the way. It was definitely appreciated."

"Yes I have a son. You're welcome. I take it you've met him."

"Yes he was just as helpful as yourself. Told me to get this child out of town."

"Looks like you did just that."

"There's more you're not telling me isn't there."

The old man sighed. "The child is not yours to raise. I saw the way you looked at her. I am sorry. Your trials are not yet over but I must prepare you for them before you have any chance of overcoming them. If there is one thing I could tell you about this place it is that sinners are tested but good people are tried twice as hard. My name is Black Bear by the way."

Mark got up still holding the infant and shook Black Bear's hand. "Mark Shepherd. Pleased to meet you. If Alessa was here I'm sure she would have an autograph book out or something. Haha."

Black Bears face was grim. "That poor girl has the biggest challenge of all."

"Well I'm sure your son will guide her as best he can."

"I hope so. You want to put that rabbit on the road and put the child under the shade of that tree."

"Will she be ok?"

"Time will tell. She will know sadness and happiness just as any child. I just hope she is filled with more of the latter."

Mark threw the rabbit onto the road and gently lay baby Cheryl under the tree as he was directed to. A tear ran down his cheek. "Goodbye Cheryl. Have a wonderful life full of happiness. I will always be thinking about you." He tickled her and walked back to Black Bear.

"What happens now?"

"Now we hide behind this tree and wait."

It was about ten minutes later that a red jeep sped down the road. It ran over the rabbit then the brakes squealed bringing the jeep to a stop. A young man of average height and with short brown hair got out to inspect the damage. A woman's voice called out to him from inside.

"Is it dead?"

He rolled it over with his shoe and made a grossed out face. "I think so pet. Sorry I tried to stop in time but it is a bit foggy out here."

"That's ok. At least you tried. Now get back in and lets go find some sunshine."

The younger man looked out towards the forest. He definitely heard something. There was a barely audible gurgling.

"What is it Harry?"

He walked towards the source of the noise. "Don't know for sure hun but it sounds like a baby."

"All the way out here? I think you're going a bit crazy sweetie."

Harry heard the noise again. He reached the tree and picked up the small bundle. "Hello there what's your name?" The baby gurgled and for some reason the only name Harry could think of was Cheryl. The baby giggled.

"What's going on?" The woman called, getting slightly worried.

Harry returned to the jeep. "I found a beautiful bundle of crazy."

The woman's eyes widened. "She's adorable. What is she doing out here? She could catch her death. Any sign of the parents?"

Harry shook his head. "No sign of anyone. Looks like she was abandoned."

"We'd better check the local town in case she's being missed."

"That's a good idea but something tells me we won't get anywhere. Here's a crazy idea. If we don't find a home lets adopt her."

"Where did that come from?"

"It's like fate. She doesn't have anyone else in the whole world and we happen to find her. I know it would work and you know we would have to adopt anyway."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You're terrible for that Harry Mason. I bet you have a name picked out and everything."

Harry shrugged. "You know me too well. I do as it happens. Cheryl."

The woman thought about it. "Cheryl Mason. Hmm. It has a nice ring to it. Oh lets go into town and hope that no one else misses her before she breaks my heart."

He handed his wife the baby and got in the jeep.

Mark watched as it pulled away and was swallowed by the fog. "They're going back to the Silent Hill I know not the nightmare I came from aren't they."

Black Bear nodded. Something clicked with Mark. "I take it I can't go back there."

Black Bear shook his head. "Dead men walk a different path. Nothing is over Mark Shepherd. For you death is only the beginning. From here you can either be a force for good or evil. I can only teach you the path of the Red God Xuchilbara. If you wish to seek a different way then you must pace that alone."

Mark thought about going back to see his wife. "Will I ever see my wife and child again if I follow you?"

"You may. It is not for me to decide."

"A maybe is better than a no. Ok then. I'll go with you. Do we float or teleport or something?"

The old Indian gave him a puzzled look. "We walk. Same as everyone else. Nothing good comes easy."

"Figures. Let's go then." The two walked off into the forest on what was the start of a long journey for both of them.

* * *

Harry Mason moved his favourite armchair for the third time. She wasn't there.

"Cheryl? CHERYL where are you?"

It had been seven years since he first found her and ever since the girl had a talent for getting lost.

"Come on Cheryl. Quit playing. You know I have to work some time."

Ever since his wife died he had thrown himself into his writing and looking after Cheryl. Though he swore she would be the death of him by having him run after her all the time. He went upstairs and smiled when he heard a faint noise coming from the attic. He made his way up.

"Ha. Found you. What are you looking at? Oh."

The small seven year old girl with short black hair sat by the window in the attic with a scrap book in her lap. Harry recognised it immediately. It was the scrapbook he and his wife had made that holiday they found Cheryl.

She looked up. "Hey Dad. Look what I found."

"That's very good sweetie. Why don't you put that down and we go and find your colouring book."

She shook her head stubbornly. "No. I wanna read this. Look there's Mommy before she got sick and went to heaven. She's smiling and that's you. Don't be sad Daddy. Look try and make your face like his." She traced a smiley face on Harrys downcast expression.

The wave of sorrow passed and he cheered up a bit. "Sorry honey it's just been a long time since Daddy has seen that."

"Know what would make you happy?"

"What pumpkin?"

"A holiday."

"A holiday?"

"Yes. You're always working. I want a holiday with happy Daddy."

He laughed. "Ok. Where do you want to go?"

She poked the picture she was looking at. "Here Daddy."

"Silent Hill? Are you sure? There's not much there for a kid to do. I thought you were talking about Disneyland again."

She shook her head. "Nope. Silent Hill."

Harry grinned. "How could I say no to that face? Ok Silent Hill it is then."

"Yaaay." The small girl hugged her father. "Best Daddy ever." She climbed down the attic stairs. "I'm going to tell teddy we're going on holiday."

"Ok sweetie." Harry closed the scrapbook. Perhaps it was time to get away from it all. He looked out at the red sky morning. He always liked the way it created an atmosphere like the world was one big puppet show made up of silhouettes. He put the book back in its box. His love for his wife had never left him but he knew he would go to hell and back for his little girl. Who knew? Perhaps he might even get the peace he needed in Silent Hill. He closed the attic door and went off to find Cheryl again.

* * *

The end. Hope you all enjoyed it. Thanks for reading so far. There's more to come soon enough. I have a couple of one shots and at least three big ones planned so keep your eyes peeled. Please R&R.  
Cheers  
Wolf


End file.
